
Class __d_::\CJtAl:^ 
Book ^ A C .. 



COPYRIGKI' DEPOSIT 



"I am the Resorrection and the Life" 



I V 



. . A Book .. 



OF 



Funeral Sermons, 



a 



BY 



Lutheran Pastors< 



AMERICAN LUTHERAN PUBLICATION BOARD, 
. PITTSBURG, PA. 
J899. 
L ^ 






32418 



Copyrighted March 1899. 
American Lutheran Publication Board. 
Pittsburg. Pa. 







PREFACE. 



>^ 



The history of this volume of funeral sermons is, 
- the same time, its apology. It is briefly this: for 
lumber of years individual pastors of the English 
nod of Missouri have been urged to publish such 
.: •^mons as homiletical aids to such pastors as, for 
iut of time or proper equipment, have felt embar- 
ssed when called upon, often on very short notice, 
conduct a burial in the English language. These 
requests were brought to the attention of the English 
Synod, and as it appeared reasonable and fair that 
English pastors should supply this want of church- 
literature, and the Synod had thus, in a manner, been 
called upon to supply the same, it was resolved at 
the convention held in the city of Baltimore in 1897 
to proceed with the publication of the present volume. 
Synod's Publication Board, after collecting some ma- 
terial and outlining the general plan of the book, in- 
structed the undersigned to arrange details and com- 



vi Preface. 

plete this volume, which has, in all its parts, been duly 
passed upon by the Revision Committee of Synod. 

The volume, which is herewith presented to the 
Church for such use as it will find it convenient to 
make of it, is the joint product of a number of authors, 
all of whom have approached their part in its elabora- 
tion with a greater or less degree of diffidence, and 
none of whom claims any merit or recognition for its 
execution. Owing to the joint authorship of this 
book absolute uniformity of thought and expression 
and of the exposition and application of Scripture 
texts will probably be found wanting in it. Besides, 
a number of the sermons admitted into this book, 
were written for special occasions arising in the pa- 
rochial work of pastors, and thus bear the stamp pe- 
culiar to such sermons. It was thought advisable to 
admit them just for this reason, rather than in spite of 
it. For the same reason two sermons each on the 
same text were admitted in three instances. However, 
this lack of uniformity, if it is a defect at all, will be 
compensated for by the diversity of gifts which has 
been available for this work. In the compilation of 
the burial service appended at the end Lochner's 
Liturgische Monatshefte has been followed. 

May Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life, 
accept of this humble work and bless its use to the 



Preface. vii 

instruction, correction, and comforting of his children 
in some of their saddest hours in this perishable life. 
"Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto 
the house of Israel : therefore hear the word at my 
mouth, and give them warning from me." Ezech. 

3-17. 

''Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your 

God. Sp.eak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry 

unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her 

iniquity is pardoned : for she hath received of the 

Lord's hand double for all her sins. Isa. 40:1, 2. 

By order of the 

American Lutheran Publication Boards 

W. H. T* DAU* 

CONOVER, N. C, 

On the eve of Reformation Day 1898. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS, 



L FOR INFANTS AND VERY YOUNG CHILDREN* 

{I — 3 yearsO 

PAGE. 

1. 2 Sam. 12: 23 I 

How to submit to God's will and be comforted by it. 

2. Jerem. 31: 3 5 

This word of God is true. 

3. Jerem. 31:3 9 

Why God so often takes away our little ones from 
this earth. 

4. Matt. 6: 10 o 14 

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

5. Mark. 10: 14 20 

(Address.) 

IL FOR CHILDREN* (3—13 years*) 

6. Psalm 73: 23, 24 25 

The believing confession of an afflicted Christian : 
"Nevertheless I am continually with thee." 

7. Psalm 116: 15 33 

Our comforting assurance that the death of this child is 
precious in the sight of the Lord. 

8. John 8: 5 1 37 

The keeping of Christ's saying as the victory 
over death. 

9. 2 Tim. 4:18 48 

Why Christian parents should not weep over the death 
of their children. 



X Contents. 

IIL FOR CONFIRMED YOUTHS. (J3— 17 years.) 

a) For Boys: 

PAGE. 

ID. Job. i: 21 56 

The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed 
be the name of the Lord. 

11. John 11: 25, 26 63 

I am the resurrection and the life. 

12. 2. Tim. 4: 18 69 

Confirmed indeed. 

b) For Girls: 

13. Isaiah 57: I, 2 74 

The righteous taken away from the evil to come. 

14. Luke 8: 52 .. 79 

Weep not ; she is not dead, but sleepeth. 

15. Luke 12: 37 86 

(Address.) 

IV. FOR YOUNG MEN. (17—25 years.) 

16. Rom. 8: 18 91 

Two reasons for cheerfulness in suffering. 

17. Phil. 3:20, 21 97 

The renewing or transforming of the body. 

18. I. Pet. 4: 12, 13 108 

Why it is not strange that Christians should suffer. 

V. FOR YOLTSTG WOMEN. (J7— 25 years.) 

19. Matt. 25: 10 c 115 

The bridegroom came. 

20. Luke I: 48 122 

The Lord's handmaiden. 



Contents. xi 

PAGE. 

21. John 20: 15, 16 127 

Why weepest thou ? 

VL FOR YOUNG MARRIED MEN* 

22. Psalm 66: 16 136 

What God hath done for my soul. 

23. John 16: 16 141 

A little while. 

24. Hebr. 4: 9, 11 145 

At rest, 

VIL FOR YOUNG MARRIED WOMEN; 

25. Ruth i: 16, 17 .152 

Wither thou goest, I will go. 

26. Job. 19: 25 — 27 .159 

(Address). 

27. Phil. 1:21 164 

The Christian's happiness in life and death. 

VIIL FOR MIDDLE AGED MEN- 

28. Psalm 16: 6 171 

The lines fallen in pleasant places. 

29. Matt. 25: 21 176 

The good and faithful servant, 

30. .2 Cor. 12: 3, 4 181 

The glories of heaven. 

IX. FOR MIDDLE AGED WOMEN. 

31. Acts 21: 14 187 

Patient submission to the will of God. 

32. I Cor. 15: 42, 43 192 

The glorious hope of the resurrection of the body. 



xii . Contents. 

PAGE. 

33. Phil, i: 21 198 

To live is Christ, and to die is gain. 

34. Hebr. 13:14 203 

The continuing city, the goal of our pilgrimage. 

35. Rev. 14: 13 208 

Blessed are the dead whichdie in the Lord. 

X* FOR ELDERLY MEN AND WOMEN. 

36. Gen. 25: 8 215 

(Address). 

37. Psalm 4: 8 220 

I will lay me down in peace. 

38. Psalm 71:9 225 

Cast me not off in time of old age. 

39. Isa. 53 : 5 .230 

With His stripes are we healed. 

40. I Cor. 13: 13 236 

The kindly offices of the three cardinal Christian 
virtues at the burial of Christians. 

41. Col. i: 9, 10 243 

The inheritance of the saints in light. 

42. 2 Tim. 4: 7, 8 252 

The life of a Christian a fight for a crown. 

43. 2 Tim. 4: 7, 8 « 0....259 

The dying Christian's song of triumph. 

44. Hebr 9:27 269 

It is appointed unto men once to die. 

45. Rev. 2: 10 277 

Faithfulness unto deatli. 



Contents. xiii 

XI. FOR EXTRAORDINARY OCCASIONS* 

PAGE. 

46. Job. 7: 16 286 

Under what circumstances is the desire to die 
a pious desire. 

47. Psalm 46: 10 .294 

Be still, and know that I am God. 

48. Isa. 55: 8, 9 301 

(Address). 

49. Isa. 57: 2 305 

(Address). 

50. Jerem. 22:29 310 

(Address). 

51. Hosea 6: i 315 

Come and let us return unto the Lord. 

XIL BURIAL service: 325 



* 



INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS 



(Numbers in ( ) refer to number of sermon.) 

PAGE. 

Gen. 25:8 '. (36) 215 

Ruth 1:16,17 (25) 152 

2 Sam. 12:23 (i) I 

Job 1:21 (10) 56 

Job 7:16 .... (46) 286 

Job 19:25-27 (26) 159 

Psalm 4:8 (37) 220 

Psalm 16:6 (28) 171 

Psalm 46: 10 (47) 294 

Psalm 66: 16 (22) 136 

Psalm 71:9 (38). 225 

Psalm 73:23,24 (6) 25 

Psalm 116:15 (7) 33 

Isaiah 53:5 (39) 230 

Isaiah 55:8,9 (48) 301 

Isaiah 57:1,2 (13) .- 74 

Isaiah 57:2 (49) 3^5 

Jerem. 22:29 (50) 310 

Jerem. 31:3 (2) 5 

Jerem. 31:3 (3) 9 

Hosea6:i (51) 3^5 

Matthew 6:10 (4) 14 

Matthew 25:10 (19) 115 

Matthew 25:21 (29) 176 

Mark 10:14 (5) 20 

Luke 1:48 (20) 122 



Index. XV 

PAGE. 

Luke 8:52 (14) 79 

Luke 12:37 (15) 86 

John 8:51 (8) 37 

John 11:25,26 (11) 63 

John 16:16 (23) 141 

John 20:15,16 (21) 127 

Acts2i:i4 (31) 187 

Rom. 8:18 (16) 91 

I Cor. 13:13 (40) 236 

1 Cor. 15:42,43 (32) 192 

2 Cor. 12:3,4 (30) 181 

Phil. 1:2 1 (27) 164 

Phil. 1:21 (33) 198 

Phil. 3:20,21 (i7)-.-- 97 

Col. 1:9:10 (41) 243 

2 Tim. 4:7,8 (42) 252 

2 Tim . 4:7,8 (43) 259 

2 Tim. 4:18 (9) 48 

2 Tim. 4:18 (12) , 69 

Heb. 4:9,11 (24) 145 

Heb. 9:27 (44) 269 

Heb. 13:14 (34) 203 

I Pet. 4:12,13 (18) 108 

Rev. 2: 10 (45) 277 

Rev. 14:13 (35) 208 



V 



FOR INFANTS AND VERY YOUNG 
CHILDREN (i— 3 Years). 

I. 

HOW TO SUBMIT TO GOD'S WILL AND BE 
COMFORTED BY IT. 

But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring 
him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return 
to me. 2 Sam. 12:23. 

''It is appointed unto men once to die.'' This holds 
good aHke with the tottering- sire and the infant in 
the cradle. And it is quite natural for grief and 
mourning to follow in the wake of death; tears and 
sorrow^ too, being like death a consequence of sin. 
For loving parents to experience grief, when their 
child, a special gift of God's grace, is taken from them, 
is very much in the order of things and not displeas- 
ing to God. Such sorrow we do not find censured in 
Holy Writ. Hagar, when believing her son about 
to die in the desert, ''sat down over against him a 
good way ofif : for she said. Let me not see the death 
of the child. And she lifted up her voice and wept." 
How very downcast the pious Shunamite widow was, 
when the son, whom the Lord had given her at the 
instance of the prophet's prayer, was taken from her 
by the hand of death! And witness the pangs of 
Jairus, the father, wdien his daughter was about to 
die. Again, did not the ruler whose son lay sick 



2 For Infants and very young Children. 

at Capernaum, show a parent's grief. Finally, note 
David's grief at the prospects of his infant child's 
death. We do not find this pain censured, nor this 
grief forbidden. 

So on this occasion we shall not chide the parents 
for feeling the heaviness of the Lord's hand, for to 
have the objects of our greatest love taken from us, 
will and must cause us pain. 

Still there is a Hmit to grief; there is a balm in 
Gilead. We would recall to you the peculiar, yet 
God-fearing conduct of David at the death of his 
child, in that he rose up on learning its death, went 
into the house of God to worship, and did eat bread. 
Hence, let us learn from David how to submit to 
God's ruling, and how to be comforted by it. 

I. 

David saw in the death of his child the infallible 
yet gracious will of God. He said, ^'now he is dead 
. . e can I bring him back?'' David had prayed for 
the life of the child as long as breath was in him, 
but when death had set in, the will of God was evi- 
dent. We as Christians w^ish to live in accord with 
it, hence must not murmur against it, -or show in- 
submission by excessive grief. ''Thy will be done,'' 
we pray, and when we find His will done, let us bow 
to it. This David did. By his petitions and actions 
he acknowledged God to be the one that gives us 
life, and that children are a heritage of God. He 
then, it follows, has full authority to call the children, 
whom He gave us for a time, to Himself again. Say 
you, there is little comfort in this stern fact of God 



Submission to God's Will. 3 

being the ruler and we the ruled? But I pray you, 
remember we are speaking not of an irrevocable, in- 
exorable blind fate, but of an infallible judgment of 
God. What He does is right. So when God acts, 
even in His omnipotence, such acts being infallibly 
right, must be for our good. 

Beloved '*it is well!'' 

God's w^ays are always right; 

And perfect love is o'er them all, 

Though far above our sight. 

H. 

It is hard, you say, to see God's love in the death 
of your child? True, death in itself is not a mark 
of God's love, but of His wrath over sin, and every 
instance of death we meet with reminds us of the 
power death has over us because of our sins, and 
should cause us to humble ourselves in God's sight. 
God's greatest act of grace and love centers in show- 
ing us through the law our sinfulness, so that, by 
means of the Gospel, we may find the way to Christ 
and salvation. Visitations like the present one are 
valuable aids to this end. So the departure of your 
child, in forcibly bringing these facts to your remem- 
brance, evinces the gracious w^ill of God. 

In David's words, "I shall go to him, but he shall 
not return to me," there is the comfort of the child 
being removed from all temporal trouble and cares. 
David would give a kingdom, yet he knew full well, 
that a royal crown was often converted into a crow^n 
of pain, of thorns. A kingdom would not have been 
in store for your child had it lived, but perhaps much 



4 For Infants and very young OhildrPH. 

pain and many tears. Even David was not spared 
them; and this occasion reminds us anew that we are 
in a vale of tears and in a world of suffering-. This 
child tasted but very little of it, barely becoming con- 
scious of its own existence. So you will admit that 
its removal from this world's ills is an act of God\s 
love. 

'T shall go to him/' David sa3^s. Herein lies the 
main comfort. Where was David's child? In heaven, 
having through circumcision already been incorpor- 
ated into God's Church and made heir to the blessed 
promises of God's children. Likewise this child, 
lately departed, having experienced ''the washing of 
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost'' — Holy 
Baptism — is now an angel in the realms of light. 
Your child has attained the end of its creation and 
existence. Would you recall it? Luther at the death 
of his daughter Lena said: 'If I could recall my 
daughter and get the Turkish empire into the bargain, 
I would not do it! Oh, she is well off! 'Blessed are 
the dead which die in the Lord'"! 

You likewise may say to your child: 

Because thy smile was fair, 
Thy lip and eye so bright; 
Because thy loving cradle care 
Was such a sweet delight. 

Shall love, with weak embrace 
Thy upward wing detain? 
No ! gentle angel, seek thy place 
Amid the cherub train. 



This Word of God is True. 5 

A happy reunion, dear parents, is held out to you. 
'1 shall go to him/' David said. He knew where he 
was going. See to it that you follow where your child 
has gone before. You will henceforth, when think- 
ing of your eternal home, associate with it also the 
beloved form of your departed child, beckoning you 
onward and upward, and when re-united with it never 
to part you will join your child in blessing God for 
this present hour of pain and parting. Amen. 



II. 
THIS WORD OF GOD IS TRUE. 

I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore 
with loving-kindness have I drawn thee. Jerem. 31:3. 

When death comes among us, we are reminded of 
the vanity of all earthly things and of all merely human 
consolation. Let even the best friends then come 
and show their sympathy, what real help does it af- 
ford? The precious life is gone; the loved one is 
dead. How complete the sadness, if there we must 
"mourn, as those who have no hope.'' But Christians 
must not thus mourn. They are not dependent on 
human consolation. No; the word of the living God 
aflfords the Christian abundant consolation for every, 
even the saddest bereavement. He who said : ''Com- 
fort, comfort ye my people,'^ has also provided that 
Christians must and shall not be without comfort. 
His word contains a balm for every sore — a balm, 
which heals not only temporarily, but heals so, that 
the healing of God is applied to our wounded hearts. 



6 For Infants and very young Children. 

It is my precious calling to ofifer this healing balm to 
you, whose hearts are bleeding over the death of your 
beloved child. The ties are tender that bind together 
parents and children, brothers and sisters, and when 
they are torn, the hearts will bleed, and "for blood 
the tears will flow;'' but our hearts are then also pec- 
uliarly attentive to the Word of Him who has the 
keys of life and death. Open your hearts to its con- 
solation, as I have chosen it for this occasion, and 
you can find it written Jer. 31:3: — 'T have loved thee 
with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkind- 
ness have I drawn thee.'' 

THIS WORD OF GOD IS TRUE, 
i). As spoken to this child in life and death; 
2). As spoken to the bereaved mourners and to us 
all. 

I. 

'T have loved thee with an everlasting love.'' This 
word of God is true as spoken to this child, now ly- 
ing cold in death. God who is love has loved it too 
with His everlasting love. He loved it from eternity, 
when He, in Christ, numbered it among His elect. 
He loved it so, that He gave His only begotten Son, 
that it should not perish but have everlasting life. 
But you say, He permitted it to sufifer so much, and 
then to die. Of course. He did, and all in love. Does 
not His word say: "'Whom the Lord loveth. He also 
chasteneth ;'' and: ''We must through much tribula- 
tion enter into the kingdom of God?'' This is true 
of all sinners, w^io are saved by grace, and of our 



This Word of God is True. 7 

saved children too, because they also are sinners and 
saved by grace. They, too, must through the sor- 
rows of earth learn to know the joys of heaven, 
through death enter into life, that when they get 
there, they may enjoy the blessedness of heaven. 

'Therefore,'' He says, '\vith loving kindness have 
I drawn thee.'' How did He do this with regard to 
this child? He first drew you, its dear parents, to 
Christ, and when He gave you this child, you brought 
it to Him in Holy Baptism. There He drew it to 
Himself, and ''sanctified and cleansed it with the 
washing of water by the word,'' and made it His own 
dear child. But He still left it with you, and in your 
care, for your joy and delight, and to be coworkers 
together with God in bringing it up for His kingdom. 
Remember, however, that you were only coworkers 
together with God; God was doing the drawing; and 
so He soon began to draw it closer and closer to Him- 
self. How often you thought, now He will take it 
away; and in your prayers you commended it to His 
love. Thus God drew it nearer and nearer to Him- 
self, until in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, He 
translated it to the full enjoyment of His glorious 
presence forever; and here He wrote on its pallid 
countenance: "Therefore with lovingkindness have 
I drawn thee." It is for you, dear parents, and broth- 
ers and sisters and other sympathizing mourners of 
this departed child, to read on its pallid countenance, 
and when you recall it to memory to hear: "I have 
loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with 
lovingkindness have I drawn thee/' 



8 For Infants and very young Children. 

II. 
For this word of God is true also, as spoken to you 
and to us all. When God takes little children ''from 
this vale of tears to Himself in Heaven/' the dealing 
of His providence has most certainly no sinister or 
evil intention. Not toward the child; that we have 
seen; but also not toward any one of the bereaved 
mourners, or any one of us all. His everlasting love 
which embraces you, weeping parents and brothers 
and sisters, and us all, His love in which He gave the 
world His only begotten Son, is here not suspended. 
No; He now speaks to you not only in word but also 
in deed: ''I have loved you with an everlasting love; 
therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you.'' 
The drawing of His love with which He hath drawn 
this child unto Himself also reaches your hearts and 
our hearts. He would draw them nearer and nearer 
to Himself. Our hearts are naturally cold and slow 
to respond to the drawings of God's love. He there- 
fore sometimes takes a deeper hold on them, lays His 
loving hand on a tender spot, that we feel it, and 
yield our hearts to the drawing of His loving-kind- 
ness. Why, yes, we are to learn the curse of sin and 
death, that we may taste the preciousness of grace 
and life. We are to learn the vanity of all earthly 
joys, that our hearts may be freed from them to seek 
those which are in Christ Jesus. And how can we 
learn all this better than by the death of some loved 
one? For when the brightest joy of earth fades and 
passes away, are not our hearts mightily drawn thith- 
er, where joy never dies, to follow those happy ones 



Why God Takes Our Little Ones. 9 

whom God's lovingkindness has drawn unto Him- 
self? So would He draw us. By the dwelling of our 
loved ones there, heaven is to become more and more 
our home, and God's drawing is to become a home- 
sickness in our souls. "His loving-kindness. Oh ! 
how great!" Amen. 



HI. 

WHY GOD SO OFTEN TAKES AWAY OUR 
LITTLE ONES FROM THIS EARTH. 

"I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore 
with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." Jerem. 31:3. 

The tie of the family is the strongest tie that binds 
persons together here on earth. The love that binds 
together husband and wife, and parents and children 
is greater than any other love. The death therefore 
of any member of a family, be it of parent or child, 
naturally causes great grief and sorrow to all the 
other members. If the family-relation is the right 
kind, no husband likes to lose his wife and no wife 
her husband; no parents like to lose a child, although 
they may have several others left; and no child likes 
to lose one of its parents. For they love one another, 
and love never likes to part with any object of its af- 
fection. 

Also you, dear parents, loved your little daughter, 
whom God has now taken from you, and therefore 
you did not like to part with her. Your heart was 
knit in tender affection to the little darling, and her 
loss has filled your heart with grief. And you, broth- 



10 For Infants and very young Children. 

ers and sister, also loved her dearly, that infant sis- 
ter of yours and you were very unwilling to let her 
go. So since her departure there is an aching void 
in your breast, and many a tear has since then 
dropped from your eyes. 

But, however great may be your grief and sorrow^ 
at the death of your little daughter and sister, how- 
ever tender may have been your love to her, there is 
One who loves her still more than you could have 
loved her, and it is this great love for her which has 
prompted Him to remove her from your midst. Of 
this we have a testimony in the words of our text: 
''I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore 
with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.'' Guided by 
these words let me now show to you 

WHY GOD SO OFTEN TAKES AWAY OUR 
LITTLE ONES FROM THIS EARTH. 

The reason for this is 

i) Not His anger, but 

2) His loving-kindness towards them. 

I. 

It is a sad truth, my dear friends, that when God 
takes away grown persons out of this life, when He 
tears father or mother out of the family-circle, when 
He suddenly extends to a young man or woman 
the icy hand of death, that this is not always a sign 
of His love. Death is to them very often a messenger 
of God's eternal wrath. 

When such grown persons have had no other care 
than for the treasures and pleasures of this life, for- 



Why God Takes Our Little Ones. 11 

getting the cares for the treasures that moth doth not 
corrupt nor rust eat away, then their untimely death 
is a work of divine anger and wrath. To them apply 
the words of our Savior: "Thou fool, this night thy 
soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those 
things be which thou hast provided?" — Or when such 
persons have striven only after honor with men and 
for an easy life, neglecting the care for the life to 
come and for the honor with God, which can be ac- 
quired only by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, 
then their untimely death is a sign, that God's long- 
sufifering has come to an end, their death is for them 
the most terrible punishment of God's holiness and 
justice, for He thus casts them forever away from 
His face into everlasting misery and contempt. If 
young men and women have thought only of enjoy- 
ing their youthful years, if they have sacrificed the 
fragrant blossoms of their youthful lives to the god- 
dess of pleasure and lust, intending to ofTer the with- 
ered leaves of their old age to God and their Savior, 
then their untimely death is like a flash of lightning 
from the hand of their angry judge, who thus tears 
them away out of their enjoyment and pleasures into 
everlasting misery and torments. 

But such is never the case, when our little ones are 
taken away from this world. The cause of this is not 
God's anger. It is true, also our little children are 
not guiltless and holy, for they are born sinners. 
But Christ has died also for them, has wiped away 
the sin which they bring with them into the world. 
And He furthermore, in Holy Baptism, clothed them 



12 For Infants and very young Children. 

with the robe of His righteousness, so that in the 
eyes of God they become perfectly holy and right- 
eous. Thus these little ones become Christ's own 
brothers and sisters, the children of His Father, and 
heirs of eternal salvation. And this heavenly Father 
now loves them much more than human parents can 
love their children, He loves them with an everlast- 
ing love, as our text tells us. Ah yes, before the 
foundations of the earth were laid, he loved them al- 
ready and ordained them for heaven. Moreover, He 
shows His love for them in various ways. He sends 
His holy angels to- watch and protect them. He is 
angry with those who offend them. Yea, He says in 
His Word that ''it were better for such person if a 
millstone were hanged about their neck and they 
'were drowned in the depths of the sea.'' And on the 
other hand He says of those, who treat them kindly : 
''Whosoever receiveth such a child in my name, re- 
ceiveth me.'^ How, then, could it be His wrath, that 
prompts Him to take them aw^ay from this earth? 
Nay, that is impossible! On the contrary, our text 
states the reason for this when it says : "I have loved 
thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving- 
kindness have I drawn thee,'' i. e. taken thee away 
from earth. 

n. 

If a person were locked up in a dark and damp 
dungeon, and somebody would come and unbolt the 
iron door and conduct him into a beautiful, light 
room to unite him with his dear relatives and friends: 
would he be inclined to construe this as an act of 



Why God Takes Our Little Ones. 13 

anger on the part of his liberator? Or if somebody 
were to raise you from bitter poverty into a state of 
wealth, from deep contempt to high honors, from 
grief and trouble to joy and happiness, from illness 
and w^eakness to health and strength : say, would you 
not consider such deeds as deeds of great love to- 
wards you? 

Now, what else is this life than a damp and dark 
dungeon, where our soul is pining in the fetters of 
sin? What else is this evil life than bitter poverty, 
where we m.ust appear as naked beggars before God 
every day? What else is this life than misery and 
trouble, never-ceasing sickness and constant dying? 
And what, on the other hand, is heaven but a beauti- 
ful hall in which are assembled all the elect of God in 
everlasting union and never ending happiness? What 
else is it but a place, where God's children are sup- 
plied with an infinite abundance of treasures far bet- 
ter than this earth can afiford, w^here there is unceas- 
ing joy, never interrupted health and vigor and ever- 
lasting life? 

Oh, is it not truly loving-kindness, therefore, when 
God takes our little ones away from this earth of 
misery and trouble and transfers them to a world of 
happiness and bliss? He foresees all the troubles 
and trials that await them down here, therefore he 
takes them away before they can be touched by them. 
He sees the serpent of sin stealthily approach them, 
and He takes them up in His arms and carries them 
to a place of safety in their Father's house. He sees 
the overwhelming flood of perdition, as it comes 



11 For Infants and very young Children. 

rushing along threatening to drown them, and He 
takes them and carries them up to the high hills of 
heaven, where they cannot be reached by that danger- 
ous destructive flood. 

Oh, ought we not rather to rejoice, therefore, than 
weep over the death of our little children, when we 
know that they have been received by Christ in Bap- 
tism and that He has now taken them to Himself 
altogether. When we know that they are now safe 
from all the dangers and troubles that beset us in 
this wdckcd world, that they have entered the eternal 
bliss of heaven, without first tasting the bitterness of 
this evil life. Meseems they call down to us from 
heaven: Weep not, dear parents, weep not, dear 
brothers and sisters, for we are safely laid away in 
our heavenly Father's bosom, and are only waiting 
for you to follow us. 

May God help us whom He has yet left in th(i 
strife and turmoil of this world, to fight the battle 
bravely to the end, so that, when death comes to re- 
lease us, w^e may join the saints that have gone before 
us. Amen. 



IV. 

THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH, AS IT IS 

IN HEAVEN^ 

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Matt. 6:10. 

Again we must exclaim with Moses, the man of 
God: "Lord, thou turnest man to destruction and 
sayest: 'Return, ye children of men' . . , Thou car- 



Thy Will be Done. 15 

riest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: 
in the morning they are Hke grass which groweth 
up. In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up: 
in the evening it is cut down and withereth.^^ Such 
is the state of the w^hole human race, it is cut down 
like the grass of the meadow. The old, the young, 
the wise, the simple, all must sooner or later quit this 
life. Loved ones may stand around our couch to 
hold us back, but they cannot — go we must; Oh 
momentous hour v/hen we quit life, for as the tree 
falleth, so shall it lie to all eternity. Oh, painful hour 
of departure, the dissolution of body and soul. Oh, 
all-important hour of death; for upon it depends 
either everlasting happiness and bliss, or eternal 
punishment and w^oe. Why must we die? Moses 
says: ''We are consumed by thine anger and by thy 
wrath are we troubled.^' O Lord! It is sin that 
caused death to come into the w-orld, for ''the w^ages 
of sin is death." — Here also death has claimed its 
victim, the coffin yonder contains the mortal remains 
of one, who lived but a few years in this world and 
has now taken his flight to the realms beyond. And 
w^e, in the presence of this sad scene, can but repeat 
the words of the Lord's prayer: 'Thy will be done on 
earth as it is in heaven!'' 
Note 

i) The Lord's will has been done to this child, and 
2) The Lord's wall shall be done to us. 

1. 

The words of our text are taken from the Lord's 
Prayer, from that sweet prayer w^hich we should, ac- 



16 For Infants and very young Children. 

cording to our Savior's express command, pray al- 
ways. Since He taught us to pray on this wise, there- 
fore we should not let one day pass by without say- 
ing: ''Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." 
It is the Lord's will that has been done; the will of 
that Lord, wdio has power over life and death; of that 
Lord, in whom we live and move and have our be- 
ing; of that Lord, who spake on the first day: ''Let 
there be light," and lo! there was light; of that Lord, 
who speaks and it is done, of that Lord, who spake to 
this child: "Come to me/' and behold! it came; and 
thus the Lord's w411 has been done! — It was God's 
will that this child should die at this age, for we read : 
''Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one 
of them shall not fall on the ground without yoiu* 
Father. But the very hairs of your head are all num- 
bered.'^ The sparrow is a bird whose life is little re- 
garded by men. But what says the Bible? "Not one 
of them shall fall on the ground without the will of 
my Father.'' Yea, what man regards a hair of his 
head, whether he has one more or less? Yet God has 
them all numbered, and without His will not one sin- 
gle hair can fall from our head. If His care and pro- 
vidence goes so far, that He looks to the sparrow, 
that He counts the hairs of our head, could the death 
of this child, have taken place without His knowledge, 
will and consent? Indeed not, for man is so much 
superior to the sparrow and hairs of our head that 
God cannot overlook him. 

Let us pause here and receive divine consolation. 
God's will has been done. Now He knoweth all 



Thy Will be Don^. 17 

things; He knowetli when we deserve punishment, 
and He also knoweth when best to apply it, for He is 
omniscient. He has deemed it best, and so let His 
will be done! He foresaw what perils bodily and spir- 
itual this child would be exposed to, what dangers 
of losing that faith which was implanted in it in Holy 
Baptism. Before His view was the dark veil of the 
future drawn aside, and He saw the manifold ills, sick- 
nesses, and diseases, and said: ''Child, thou shalt not 
know these,'^ and so His will is done. — And what a 
bountiful blessing it is for the deceased that God took 
him from this Hfe. For what is this hfe? Is it not 
a parched desert and strange land, a temporary dwell- 
ing place for the believer, who is a pilgrim? What 
saith Moses? 'The days of our years are three score 
years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be 
fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sor- 
row.'' Labor and sorrow — that is their strength. 
All that have lived and tasted life can testify to the 
truth of these words. One sorrow follows the other; 
one disease the other; one disappointment another; 
one mishap another; and so on until death. Have 
you not yourself tasted the emptiness and shallow- 
ness of this life? Where can you find real pleasure, 
real enjoyment, real happiness outside of that taught 
in the Scriptures? Nowhere, nowhere, for all is vain, 
saith Solomon. This life of misery the deceased has 
escaped, and, as we hope, is now dwelling in realms 
of light, in heaven, where he is free from all evils of 
body and soul, enjoying with angels and saints the 
presence of the adorable God; where there is joy 



18 For Infants and very young Children. 

in abundance and gladness beyond description; where 
''God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and 
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor cry- 
ing, neither shall there be any more pain, for the for- 
mer things are passed awayf' where our mouths shall 
be filled with singing and laughter; where sorrow 
never enters, where all is peace and love! Ah, is he 
gone to this place, to the home of many mansions, 
then let us rejoicingly say: ''The Lord gave, and the 
Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the 
Lord,'' for His will has been done! 

IL 
But the Lord's will shall also be done to us, as w^e 
pray: "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven/' 
We are standing in the presence of an open coffin con- 
taining the lifeless corpse of a child. This circum- 
stance teaches us an awful lesson. It shows us that 
the hour will come — and alas, who knows how soon! 
— when your body shall also lie cold, pale, Hfeless in 
a coffin, but your soul, where, oh where shall it be? 
If you persistently neglect the care for your soul in 
this life, then it shall not be where this child's soul 
dwelleth; it shall not be where our mouths shall be 
filled with laughter; it shall not be where the heavenly 
hosts, where cherubim and seraphim are dwelling; 
it shall not be where the Savior is; it shall not be 
where God is; it shall not be in heaven, but — alas, 
alas — in hell, the pit of eternal punishment. — Take 
these two truths home with you to-day and ponder 
over them in your heart: i. That thy hour of de- 
parture will, and must come sooner or later, it may 



Thy V/ill be Done. 19 

be 3^ears distant, it may be but a month, a week, a 
day, an hour, a minute off, we know not, but come it 
will, and 2. I propose this question to you : Wilt 
thou be prepared for it? ready for eternity? If thou 
art not yet, hasten and escape to the mountains, 
whence cometh thy help, flee to the Rock of Ages, 
cleft for thee, and do not turn back lest thou perish 
on the way; believe on Jesus Christ, who came into 
this world to save sinners; this is the only help, the 
only aid, the only succor for the dying, nothing else 
can save you, whatsoever it be. Do you feel a long- 
ing, a desire for help? Is this wish possessing your 
heart: ''What shall I do to be saved?'' Here is God's 
answer: "Look unto me and be saved.'' It is but a 
look; oh, look, dear friend, and be saved! Happy thou 
art for looking, for this look is eternal life, the look 
of faith. It is the dawn of a new day in your dark- 
soul, a glorious beam of that light which shines in the 
celestial realms, the break of eternal day; it is the 
beginning of faith, nay, faith itself, but very weak and 
frail, therefore nurse it and feed it with the sincere 
milk of the Word of God, i. e. read and hear the Word 
of God when and w^herever you can, and you are 
wxll equipped for the vale of death. 

May the w^ill of God also be done to you, dear 
mourners. By the sudden death of your dear child 
He speaks a warning word to you especially. Your 
child is in heaven: brought there by the angels, and 
now is extremely happy; but you should learn that 
God has some good purpose in view in doing this. 
Have you strayed away from Him, then let this lead 



20 For Infants and very young Children. 

you back; have you neglected His Word and Sacra- 
ments, let this make you more prompt and zealous; 
have you not loved God above all things, do it here- 
after; have you perhaps thus far not believed, let this 
be a warning to you that the day of grace is soon 
spent by you, this is the eleventh hour, the twelfth 
Cometh, then all is lost; have you been faithless, 
now is the time to be faithful, or perhaps never. If 
you receive this, then God's will shall be done to you 
also. 

Now the God of all grace and mercy, of all comfort 
and consolation, console you with His heavenly grace, 
strengthen you with His help, give you after days of 
mourning days of sunshine, gladden your heart in 
all things, and when the hour for your departure has 
come, may He be your stafif and comfort, and may 
you then be reunited with him who has gone before 
you. Grant all this, dear heavenly Father, for Christ's 
sake, who reigneth with Thee in equal power and 
glory, and very God and very man forever and ever. 
Amen. 



V. 
ADDRESS. 

Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid 
them not: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Mark 
10:14. 

To part with a dear child, with the only child — to 
see the joy of your life and the delight of your home 
sink into an early grave, that is an afHiction for par- 



Address. 21 

ents so great and painful that words cannot describe 
it. When such a great misfortune has come upon us 
we poor mortals are generally at a loss what to think 
of the great God and Ruler of the universe. We are 
tempted to say, Why, God, doest Thou such things? 
Why dost Thou not spare the young and take to 
Thee the old and feeble? Why dost Thou at a blow 
take away all the joy of a poor father and mother? 
Why dost Thou nip the flowxr in the bud and take 
away from its parents and friends such a promising 
child? 

But who are we to criticise our divine Maker? Who 
are we to tell the Almighty how to rule and govern 
this world? Are we not ashes and dust? Do we 
know what is for our own good? Do we not often 
find that we are mistaken in our opinion and judg- 
ment? — No, my friends, the only correct and proper 
thing for us to do in such sore distress is, to say with 
Job, 'The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away, 
blessed be the name of the Lord,'' to trust in our God, 
firmly believing that His dealings with us are just 
and right and, though painful and hard to bear 
for the present, will prove beneficial in the end. And 
to strengthen you in this comforting belief let me 
call your attention to the words of our beloved Sa- 
vior Jesus Christ, which we find written Mark. 10:14, 
^where He says, ''Sufifer the little children to come 
unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the king- 
dom of God.'' 

You know the occasion w^hen the Lord said these 
blessed words. You have often seen the picture, the 



22 For Infants and very young Children. 

Lord Jesus seated in the midst of a group of chil- 
dren of different ages and sizes, laying His hands 
upon them and blessing them. It was at this occa- 
sion that His disciples rebuked those that brought 
their children to Jesus. They told them to get away 
with their children and not to trouble Jesus. They 
could not see what Jesus was to do with babes brought 
to Him upon mothers' arms. He was a teacher whose 
divine sayings would benefit those that could under- 
stand what he said. But what could He benefit children 
whose mental faculties were not developed as yet and 
who could not comprehend His words? And what are 
we told of Jesus? He was much displeased at what he 
saw His disciples doing and said to them, ''SulTer the 
little children to come unto me and forbid them not, 
for of such is the kingdom of God.'' From this we 
see, Jesus is the children's greatest friend. His de- 
sire is that parents should bring their children to Him 
that He might bless them. And it is more than a 
desire. It is a commandment given to all parents. 

Now, dear parents, did you obey Christ's com- 
mand? You did. You heard the voice of Jesus say, 
•'SulTer the little children to come unto^ me,'' and then 
you did bring this child to Jesus in Holy Baptism. 
You had the child baptized with water in the name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
Jesus was invisibly present then and there, and He 
laid His divine hand upon your little daughter, and 
He blessed her. By the washing of regeneration and 
renewing of the Holy Ghost He made her His own 
and gave unto her eternal life. From that day the 



Address. 23 

kingdom of heaven was hers, given, presented to her 
by a gracious Savior and Redeemer. 

But once more did the voice of Jesus say to you, 
SufTer this httle child to comiC unto me and forbid it 
not. It was day before yesterday while you were sit- 
ting at its little bed and watching the stream of life 
slowly ebbing away. Then and there Jesus was again 
invisibly present, and He took the ransomed soul of 
your little daughter, the soul that He loved dearly 
and would no longer permit to remain in this wicked 
world, the soul that He wished to guard and keep 
from all the sins and troubles of this life. — He took 
that soul from all pain and misery, and placed it in- 
to Paradise, into the heavenly mansions, where there 
is no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, nor 
pain, but glory, happiness, pleasures for evermore. 

Behold then, my friends, you have a token in 
heaven. By the departure of your dear little daugh- 
ter to those beautiful realms above, you have been 
connected with heaven more closely and more in- 
timately than you were before. You must know and 
feel the more now that heaven is your home, your 
true home, your everlasting home. Strive then to 
get to heaven. Believe in Jesus the Savior who says, 
'T am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth 
in me, though he w^ere dead, yet shall he live, and 
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never 
die.'' And may the Lord grant us all His grace to 
say with a true heart. 



24 For Infants and very young Children. 

Jesus, Thou art mine forever, 
Dearer far than earth to me; 

Neither Hfe nor death shall sever 
Those sweet ties which bind to thee. 

Amen. 



FOR CHILDREN (3—13 Years). 

vi. 

THE BELIEVING CONFESSION OF AN 

AFFLICTED CHRISTIAN: 

^^Nevertheless I am continually with thee/^ 

Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast hol- 
den me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with 
thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Psalm 
73:23, 24. 

It is probably known to most v^^ho are here as- 
sembled that the Lord has repeatedly visited the fam- 
ily, v^ith whom w^e mourn to-day again, with painful 
losses: they have already buried several promising 
children, who died at a youthful age. Also the little 
boy which they are now to accompany to his last 
resting place gave promise of becoming a dear young 
Christian. Last Sunday he still attended his class in 
our Sunday-school together with his brothers and sis- 
ters, and until a few days ago his parents had no 
thought of the nearness of his end. Now the object 
of their fond hopes lies cold in the embrace of death; 
their hearts are sore ; their lips fail to express the bit- 
terness of their unexpected loss. It does seem as if 
the weight of heaven had fallen upon them, and God 
had turned from them in anger. If now they should 
turn and renounce God, there are men who would 
justify their action. 



26 For Children. 

My purpose is to show that the present bereave- 
ment could riot in the least justify the thought of such 
an action, but that every detail connected with it 
counsels the very opposite. I find in our text 

The Believing Confession of an Afflicted Christian : 
''Nevertheless I am continually with Thee." 

For the confession our text ofifers three reasons: 

i) The Lord holds the believing Christian by his 
right hand ; 

2) He guides him with His counsel ; 

3) He afterward receives him to glory. 

I. 

When Asaph, the holy singer, wrote the words of 
our text, he was in great straits: his fliesh and heart 
nearly failed him. He was beset with serious doubts 
as regards the justice and impartiality of God's deal- 
ings with men. He had been comparing the ease 
and good fortune of worldly men with the constant 
worry and sorrows of believers, and he was vexed 
to see the great mass of men living in utter disregard 
of God's Word and in open defiance to his declared 
will, and doing so with impunity, while the believers 
w^ho were at pains to walk so as to please God were 
in continual trouble. ''When I thought to know this/^ 
he confesses, "it was too painful for me." But his 
thoughts were given a sudden turn: he began to ob- 
serve the end of the wicked, and exclaimed terrified: 
"How are they brought into desolation, as in a 
moment ! they are utterly consumed with terrors. 
As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when 



Nevertheless I am Continually With Thee. 27 

thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image." In 
the strength of the Lord he now ralHed, confessed his 
hideous doubts with unmitigated remorse, and from 
out of his griefs said: "Nevertheless I am continual- 
ly with thee/' He had seen that outward ease and 
worldly success are not criteria of God's love, and that 
temporal afflictions are no true indications of the di- 
vine disfavor. The hand of God, the guiding interest 
of the Lord may be wanting in the former, while it is 
clearly manifest in the latter, if a person will only 
take time and patience to look. Asaph, namely, arose 
from his inner distress with this conviction: "Thou 
hast holden me by my right hand.'' 

Asaph had ventured into territory where it is dan- 
gerous for man to be. He had desired the happy out- 
ward state of the children of this world. He had 
studied their circumstances, and his heart had be- 
come enamored with their ease and splendor. He 
had not seen the danger that lurked beneath all this 
tinsel of earthly glory. He had not known that he 
was walking on the brink of a terrible chasm chasing 
a gaudy butterfly; he was not av/are that he was in- 
haling the odor of a deadly nightshade when bending 
admiringly over the good things of the children of 
men; beneath the flowers over which his feet were 
leading him, the poisonous adder lay lurking, but he 
had not seen it. Then when of a sudden his eyes 
were opened, he beheld with affrighted mien the dan- 
ger he had been in, and recoiling from the object of 
his former admiration he exclaimed with grateful 
w^onder: "Thou hast holden me by my right hand.'' 



28 For Children. 

While in his heart-burnings and doubts he had been 
wandering away from God, God silently followed him, 
allowing him seemingly to go as he pleased, and yet 
tenderly averting the worst consequences by His 
guardian care. 

You have been on an Asaph's journey, my beloved 
mourners. You have asked me, and you have asked 
your friends: ''Is it not too hard to bear?'' And when 
we urged you to wait for further signs of God's favor 
to 3^ou, you would shake your heads. You had been 
so often disappointed that your very doubts seemed 
a virtue to you. Really, it is a miracle of God that 
you have not turned infidels; that in the last moments 
of your little son a ray from heaven fell into your 
hearts, which showed you that the future which you 
had planned for W. — was a beggarly state compared 
with the future into which his heavenly Father has 
now conducted him. God has in patience allowed 
you to wander through the mazes of fearful misgiv- 
ings concerning His righteous judgments, but His 
right hand has holden you. It is by His grace that 
you have resigned your heart's delight to His keep- 
ing, and that you have desired the comfort of His 
Word in your bereavement. Now your right hand 
of faith rests again in the right hand of His promises, 
•and thus you purpose to proceed on your journey, 
walking with God, or rather being led by God in love 
and mercy. 

From his past experiences Asaph drew a lesson for 
his present conduct: 'Thou shalt guide me with thy 
counsel." He had been keeping his own counsel : that 



Nevertheless t am Continually With Thee. 29 

had well nigh ruined him; he had listened to the ad- 
vice of worldly men: that had only led him deeper 
into trouble; he had given ear to the suggestions of 
Satan, only to find himself miserably duped. All this 
while the counsel of God had been before him too: 
he had the W^ord of God which he could study; there 
was the temple, which he could attend, and the priest 
whose duty it was to advise him. But the counsel, it 
seems, which came from these quarters Asaph ap- 
preciated not; it seemed unreasonable; it soimded un- 
friendly; it thwarted his wishes. He thoroughly 
may have disliked that counsel. And yet that coun- 
sel was true and trustworthy and loving withal. It 
was the counsel of the Mighty God, whose name is 
Counsellor; it was the advice of his best Friend in 
heaven, Jesus. Succeeding events had proven its 
sterling worth. Asaph w^as compelled to acknowl- 
edge the superiority of God's thougths concerning 
him over his thoughts concerning God. He was 
constrained to own that it is good to walk by God's 
counsel in preference to walking by your own or other 
men's advice. 'Thou shalt guide me with thy coun- 
sel" was henceforth his life-motto. Thus his very 
afflictions had endeared to him the thing which he 
had formerly contended against: God's counsel, 
God's unsearchable ways of dealing with men. He 
confessed: 'T have been all wrong; God has been al- 
together right; I will follow Him alone !'^ 

You, my beloved friends, have formed the same 
resolution for your own conduct in the futiu'e. The 
spiritual gain accruing to you from your earthly loss 
can be fitly summed up in the words of the poet: 



30 For Children. 

''Whatever God ordains is good! 

He never will deceive me; 
He leads me by the proper path; 

I know He will not leave me, 
And take content 
What He hath sent; 

His hand that sends my sadness 

Will turn my tears to gladness." 

You have resolved to submit, and that, not like 
the heathen submit, with sullen resignation, but with 
cheerful willingness. Your submission proceeds from 
faith in Him to whom you submit. You are con- 
vinced that it is the highest wisdom and leads to 
blessed advantages to submit to the guiding hand 
of God, to allow Him to choose your changes, and 
to appoint for each day its burden and its cheer. 
Out of stony griefs you are ready to raise a Bethel to 
God, a memorial of His wondrous love erected upon 
your own perverseness. By the counsel of God you 
purpose to walk henceforward. Whatever each day 
may bring forth, whether laughter or pain, you will 
take as coming from above, from the Father of lights. 
You will await His direction for every move you 
make; you will submxit for His ratification every wish 
and resolve; you will revise, to meet His pleasure, 
every arrangement concerning your home, your busi- 
ness, your person, or your children's future. In brief, 
you will have no counsel but His to guide you, and 
whatever His Word shall teach you, and His Spirit 
within you prompt you to do, that you will deem it a 
high privilege to do. 



rsevertheless I am Continually With Thee. 31 

III. 
Our text closes with these words: 'Thou shait 
afterward receive me to glory.'' Asaph here casts 
his glance forward and upward. He has stablished 
his truant heart upon the firm rock of God's counsel 
regarding him; his purposes have become fixed; the 
present does not vex him any longer. And out of a 
calm and serene present he looks ahead to a glorious 
future. Yes, it is ''glory" which he beholds anon! 
The issues of his tribulations shall be honorable to 
him. From his seed of tears he expects to reap a 
rich harvest of joy. At the end of his rugged path he 
anticipates supreme repose. The cross which he has 
shouldered in the Master's name shall then be ex- 
changed for a crown. His comrade of the cross, Paul, 
says: 'T reckon that the sufferings of this present 
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory 
which shall be revealed in us." And in the same con- 
nection he has uttered that well-known rule to which 
the lives of God's elect are subject: "We know that all 
things work together for good to them that love God, 
to them who are the called according to his purpose." 
It is scriptural, then, for Christians to view their 
present earthly condition with its worry and woe as 
a prelude to a brighter ending. Just how much trib- 
ulation is needed in the premise of our career below 
to make the conclusion of our life hereafter come out 
satisfactorily, that is a matter which human logic can- 
not calculate. God who makes the weather for the 
crops in our fields, makes also the weather for each 
man's life. He knows how much storm and rain is 



32 For Children. 

needed to insure a harvest. He prunes with a mas- 
ter's hand. There is no loss incurred in this life, no 
wound inflicted, no chastisement bestowed but what 
has a direct bearing — though we conceive it not — up- 
on our everlasting life. To the end of staying cor- 
ruption in us, He salts us with the salt of affliction; 
to cause us to send forth our sweetest fragrance of 
holiness and devotion, He will crush us in the mortar 
of tribulation. When He shall have done His work 
in us, all heaven shall be delighted with the product 
of His gracious labors, and we ourselves shall never 
cease wondering that out of so much misery there 
could ever issue so much glory; that God, in order to 
set us up on high, took the strange course 
of first hurling us into the dust; that his 
psalm-singers around the glassy sea were chosen 
from the abodes of mourning and grief here 
below; that he raises those to the noblest heights 
of an immortal souPs justifiable ambition, who had 
completely renounced every earthly ambition. Aye, 
God who is wonderful in counsel, is also- marvel- 
ous in His working. His every step causes a sur- 
prise, and all His doings lead up to the grand inde- 
scribable surprise at the end, when he will receive the 
tear-begrimed, road-stained, and foot-sore pilgrim 
by the hand at the portals of the golden city, lead him 
to the throne of the Lamb, and say: ''With everlast- 
ing love have I loved thee; and when I smote thee, 
it was because I loved thee beyond all telling." 

God shall receive you afterward to glory, my grief- 
stricken friends. Trust Him, oh, trust Him for a 



Precious in the Sight of the Lord. 33 

happy consummation of all your earthl}^ trials. Thither 
where your ward of love has now^ been taken let your 
thoughts ascend. There is where believing parents 
shall meet their believing children again. The crown 
which His Savior's mercy has now placed on his 
head, you also shall wear. God does yet intend to 
make much of you, though at present you imagined 
that He cared very little for you: He will honor you 
to such a degree that you will be abashed by the ex- 
ceeding height of your coming glory. This He will do 
for Jesus' sake, wdio passed through shame that you, 
and I, and all who are here assembled might obtain 
everlasting glory. Amen. 



VH. 

OUR COMFORTING ASSURANCE THAT THE 

DEATH OF THIS CHILD IS PRECIOUS 

IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD. 

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his 
saints. Psalm 116:15. 

''And when Thou.makest up Thy jewels in Thy 
kingdom, Lord, grant that these children may be 
there, and may be Thine'' — thus the Church prays 
for her sons and daughters in view of the end to come. 
This prayer rests on Scriptural foundation. By the 
prophet Malachi the Lord of hosts has said to the be- 
lievers in Israel: ''They shall be mine in that day 
when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, 
as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.-' 
Among the official attire of the Jewish highpriest 



34 For Children. 

there was a golden breastplate studded with twelve 
precious stones. On each stone the name of one 
of the twelve tribes of Israel had been engraved. This 
breastplate the highpriest wore, whenever he en- 
tered the Holy of holies to make atonement for the 
people, and thus all Israel was constantly placed be- 
fore God in a significant manner, as a treasure which 
the Lord should hold dear, cherish, remember, and 
guard with jealous care. 

Israel's highpriest was a type of our great High- 
priest, Jesus Christ. He bears on His Savior^s breast 
all the tribes of the children of men. As their rep- 
resentative He has entered in once into the holy place, 
before God, the just judge, and has made atonement 
for them. For His beloved Son's sake God holds a 
redeemed soul dearer than all the treasures of the 
earth. Believers are jew^els in the breastplate of our 
Highpriest, and the death of a believer adds lustre 
to the glory of our exalted Redeemer. 

To this truth utterance is given in our text, which 
I desire to apply to the death of our little Marguerite 
(w^hich means ''pearP'). Let me show you 

Our Comforting Assurance that the Death of this 
Child is Precious in the Sight of the Lord, and 

i) What assures us of this fact; 

2) Why this assurance affords us comfort. 

1. 

Little Marguerite was born a sinner; flesh born 
of flesh, she, too, had come short of the glory of 
God, The crown of perfect righteousness, which the 



Precious in the Sight of the Lord. 85 

Creator placed on the head of our first ancestors, 
when He created them in His own image, did not 
adorn her brow when she entered this life. In this 
state she was not fit for the kingdom of heaven, and 
had she died in this state we should have to leave 
her present state in the world to come undiscussed. 
Whatever we should feel like saying of her endear- 
ing simplicity and her childlike innocence could not 
offset her natural depravity. 

That we can say of her to-day that she is a jewel 
in our Savior's crow^n is due to her new birth in Bap- 
tism. Christ has made her a jewel. With his entire 
church Christ loved also this child, and gave him- 
self for it; that He might cleanse it with the v/ashing 
of the water by the word, and that, Vv^ith all his glo- 
rious church, he might present also this child to 
himself, not having spot, or wTinkle, or any such 
thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 
So Scripture teaches us in the fifth chapter of Ephe- 
sians. And this, in short, is the basis of our assur- 
ance that the death of this child is precious in the 
sight of the Lord. 

When little Marguerite w^as carried home from the 
baptismal font, she had become to her Savior what 
the name, there given her, signifies, a pearl. Christ 
had in Baptism bestowed upon her the precious ran- 
som w^hich on the cross He paid also for her. She 
has been redeemed not with corruptible things, as 
silver and gold, from her vain conversation received 
by tradition from her fathers; but with the precious 
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and 



36 For Childreft. 

without spot. She was bought with a price. The full 
value of her Savior's merits was written over to her 
when she believed and was baptized. Out of worth- 
less dross that saving flood of regeneration made her 
sterling gold: out of the filth of this world she was 
picked up by the hand of niercv to become a sparkling 
ruby of pure radiance with not a fleck in her. 

As a precious heirloom Christ has ever since re- 
garded her. Like in tlie days of His flesh He has 
taken her up in His arms and blessed her. When 
she said her prayers she was spiritually in the Savior's 
lap speaking to Him as her friend. Angels of heaven 
were detailed for lier guardians to minister to her, 
as an heir of salvation. Yes, in view of His own work 
for her, Jesus placed a great value upon her. and her 
death now is precious in the sight of the Lord. Je- 
sus has clasped this pearl of faith to His heart, and 
adorns Himself with her as with a jewel. 

H. 

The comfort which Hes in this assurance, beloved 
parents, requires not so much a mind and tongue to 
draw it out and set it forth, as rather a believing 
heart of faith to receive it. Do vou not believe it^ 
How shall I interpret the tears that glisten in yotir 
eyes? I will take them to be tears of joy over }'Our 
child's exceeding great fortime, not tears of sorrow 
over your own misfortune, — if there is room at all 
for a thought of misfortune in the fulness of your 
daughter's glory. God has honored you in thus hon- 
oring your child: you have become agents on earth 
for the increase of our Savior's wealth in heaven. 



Victory Over Death. 37 

No more grateful appreciation of your parental care, 
to bring- up your child in the nurture and admonition 
of the Lord, could have been accorded you than this, 
that Christ, for whom alone you reared your Mar- 
guerite, has taken her from your hands and placed 
her whither you wished her to be guided. That is the 
chief honor of fathers and mothers that through 
their labor and care heaven is peopled with saints. 
The death of a Christian child, therefore, reflects 
honor upon the parents. Nor will Christ forsake 
such parents in their hours of sorrow. The very 
children which they have given up to Him, put Him 
in mind of them constantly. Whatever is too hard 
for their flesh to bear He will give them increased 
faith to bear. He will not purchase joy for Himself 
at the expense of their pain, but will make them to 
be sharers in His joy, and will do for them what He 
has done for their children, viz. regard also their 
death in the faith precious, and with their children 
place them,, too, in His heavenly crown of glory. 
Amen. 



VHI. 

THE KEEPING OF CHRISTS SAYING AS 
THE VICTORY OVER DEATH. 

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, 
he shall never see death." John 8:51. 

If the phrase ''sweet death'' is ever applicable, it 
can be applied to the dying of the child who sleeps in 
this coffin. Without any sign of pain, yea, with a 



38 i^or Chiidt^en. 

radiant smile on his face, he exclaimed: "Mamma, I 
see Jesus' angels !" gasped, — and had winged his way 
to Abraham's bosom. There was absolutely no bit- 
terness in the cup which the angel of death put to his 
lips; at any rate, he was made not to ''taste death.'' 
Gloriously has Christ, by the death of this child, veri- 
fied and shown something of the meaning of his re- 
mark to the Jews concerning not seeing and not 
tasting death. 

The promise which He made on that occasion be- 
longs to us all, and is one of the cherished treasures 
of our faith in a Redeemer, who died and rose again, 
to sweeten death for us, and procure for us a happy 
issue from the grave. 

These two things, the Lord's death and resurrec- 
tion, are the chief pillars on which our Christian faith 
rests. If Christ had not died our sins would not be 
atoned for and there could be no forgiveness of sin; 
and if He had not risen again there would be no right- 
eousness for us in which wc could stand before God 
and no resurrection unto eternal glory. But the Son 
of God did die, as he had prophesied by David in the 
22d Psalm, complaining: ''My strength is dried up 
like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws, 
and thou hast brought me into the dust of death." 
For what purpose the Lord of glory suffered the 
pangs of death in all their bitterness. He foretold by 
Hosea, the prophet, in the 13th chapter, saying: "O 
death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy 
destruction." He died in order to be the death of 
death, the destruction of the power of the grave, as 



Victory Over Death. 39 

the prophet Isaiah said of him: ''He will swallow up 
death in victory/' And that he through His death 
did truly destroy the power of death, this St. Paul 
testifies, writing to Timothy: ''He hath abolished 
death, and brought life and immortality to light.'' 

For whom did He bring life and immortality to 
light? Was it for Himself? Did He stand in need of 
it? Oh no, not for Himself; He, surely, needed it 
not. He had life and immortality in Himself from 
eternity. For Himself He needed not to overcome 
death; He was the Lord of death. But for whom 
He obtained victory over death He tells us by the 
prophet Hosea, saying: "I will ransom them from the 
power of the grave; I will redeem them from death." 
Who these "them" are whom the 'Lord through death 
ransomed from the power of death the Psalmist tells 
us, addressing the Lord in these words: "Thou 
hast ascended on high ; thou hast led captivity cap- 
tive ; thou hast received gifts for men ; yea, for 
the rebellious also, that the Lord God might 
dwell among them." Men, and not the pious only, 
but the rebellious also. He through death ransomed 
from the power of death. This was the purpose for 
which He died, that he might divide gifts unto men, 
among which gifts one of the greatest and most pre- 
cious is this, that men in death might triumph over 
death. Therefore, He through death destroyed the 
power of death that unto us mortal sinners this gift 
be given, that in the very face of death we might tri- 
umphantly say: ."O death, where is thy sting? O 
grave, where is thy victory? But thanks be to God, 



40 For Children. 

which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
Christ" 

Since, then, by His death Christ has gained for us 
victory over death, how are we made partakers of his 
victory over death? When do we possess this gift to 
overcome death, and by what may we in death tri- 
umph over death? This the Lord tells us in our text 
when He says: ''Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a 
man keep my saying he shall never see death.'' 
Agreeably to these words let me set forth: The Keep- 
ing of Christ's Saying as the Victory over Death. 
Three things must here come into consideration 

i) What saying we must keep; 

2) What it is to keep Christ's saying; 

3) Hov/ by this death is overcome. 

L 
When it was said of Christ by the prophet that He 
should ''swallow up death in victory'' the meaning 
was .not that He should put away death, destroying 
it utterly, or that He should not die, but the meaning 
was that in and through death He should destroy the 
power of death. Likewise, when the Lord here says: 
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my say- 
ing he shall never see death.'' The meaning is not 
that such an one should not die bodily, or that he 
should be received into heaven without bodily death 
like as Enoch and Elias, but that in death he should 
not see death and destruction, but only life and sal- 
vation; for he truly passes through death as a victor 
over death, who sees in dea\h aiot a destroyer, but 



Victory Over Death. 41 

only a janitor into true life. Now what must a man 
do in order so to pass through death as a victor over 
death? The Lord says: ''If a man keep my saying 
he shall never see death.'^ In order to overcome 
death we must keep a saying. What saying? "My 
saying/' says the Lord. So He distinguishes His say- 
ing from all other sayings, His Word from all other 
words, and this we m.ust be careful to remember. We 
must distinguish Christ's saying from all other say- 
ings, for only to His saying does He ascribe this great 
thing that, if a man keep it, he shall never see death. 

Now, Christ's saying is not Moses' saying, but Llis 
saying is the very contrary of Moses' saying. Both 
Christ's and Moses' sayings are, mdeed, contained 
in the Bible, and both these sayings are of God, but 
the Scripture distinguishes them as standing opposed 
to each other. Thus John wTites in chapter i of his 
gospel: 'The law was given by Moses, but grace and 
truth came by Jesus Christ," and Paul v\Tites to the 
Galatians: "God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, 
made under the law, to redeem them that were under 
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." 
Christ's saying, therefore, is an altogether different 
saying from that of Moses. Moses says: This do, 
and if thou do it thou shalt live and shalt be blessed, 
but if thou do it not thou shalt die and shalt be 
damned; but Christ's saying runs in this w^ise: ''For 
my sake thy sons are forgiven and thou shalt be free 
from the curse and shalt live. By Moses' saying we 
can therefore not overcome death, but Moses' say- 
ing can only multiply unto us the horrors of death. 



42 ^or Children. 

If a man had kept the whole law, and had failed in one 
point only, yet Moses delivers him into the power of 
death as the wages of his sin, even though it be one 
sin only. All those, therefore, who think they must 
be able to meet death cheerfully, because they have 
walked in the law given by Moses and have lived in- 
nocently and piously, will find themselves sadly mis- 
taken ; for when death comes, then the law proves it- 
self ''the strength of sin,'^ accusing man of sin and 
convincing him that his doom is sealed, because he 
must now appear before a holy God, before vx^hom on- 
ly those can stand who possess perfect and spotless 
holiness. Because of sin Moses' saying consigns us 
to the power of death and can only serve to increase 
the bitterness of death, and, therefore, if in death we 
would triumph over death we must accustom our- 
selves not to look to the saying of Moses, with its 
conditional promises and curses, but turn to the say- 
ing of Jesus Christ. 

Therefore, we must also know that when the Lord 
here says ''My saying," He does not mean all say- 
ings, or every word He uttered when on earth. On 
a mount He once preached a long and powerful ser- 
mon recorded by Matthew in the 5th, 6th and 7th 
chapters, but in that sermon He spoke as in the per- 
son of Moses, exercising the office of Moses and ex- 
pounding the law, and so on many occasions He 
proclaimed and explained the law. Such explana- 
tions of the law, to which belongs also the example of 
a holy life which He left for us to imitate, these, 
though spoken with His own lips, are not properly 



Victory Over Death. 43 

His saying, not that saying which He here means, 
not that saying by which we may overcome death. 
By Him grace came; therefore that only is properly 
His saying which tells of grace for sinners, that He is 
the reconciliation for our sins, that by His death He 
won for us eternal life, that His resurrection is our 
justification. The Word of grace and reconciliation, 
the Gospel, that is properly His saying, the saying of 
which He is here speaking. 

If from the saying of Moses, which is also God's 
inspired Word, much more then must we distinguish 
Christ's saying from the saying of men. When the 
pope commands fastings and pilgrimages, when he 
directs the dying to be anointed with oil, a crucifix 
to be laid on their bosom, and the like; when moralists 
say that to do right is the way to heaven; when re- 
vivahsts teach people they must surely get to heaven, 
because they have experienced a sensation of sweet- 
ness: those are all vain things, which, when death 
comes, afiford no foundation, but melt away like snow 
in the heat of the noon-day sun. So it is with all 
human doctrines, all teachings not in agreement with 
the saying of Christ, as Paul writes to the Corinthians 
that other foundation no man can lay, than that is laid, 
which is Jesus Christ, and if any man would build 
on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, 
hay, stubble, it would be tried by fire, and would 
either approve itself in the fire, or would be burned 
up. Such a fiery trial of all doctrine is the approach 
of death. Then will all human doctrines which are 
not established by the saying of Christ be consumed 



44 For Children. 

like stubble in the fire, and will afford no stay and 
comfort to the heart. "My saying/^ says the Lord. 
His saying alone will be a staff in the valley of the 
shadow of death. Therefore we must not rest satis- 
fied simply to believe what the multitude believes, 
neither must we blindly follow the lead of any man; 
but we must prove all things and make sure that the 
word which we have is truly the Word of Christ; for 
of it alone He says: "If a man keep my saying, he 
shall never see death.'' 

H, 
But if we are certain that we have the right and 
true saying of Christ, how is it kept? What is it to 
keep His saying? Here again we must distinguish 
well and keep in mind that the saying of Christ is not 
and cannot be kept like the saying of Moses. Dif- 
ferent sayings must be kept in different ways. If a 
farmer tells his laborers what is to be done, they can 
keep that saying in no 'other way than by going and 
doing the work. But if a man tells his family a piece 
of good news, they can keep that saying in no other 
way than by accepting it as true, believing it and re- 
joicing over it. Moses' saying consists in commands, 
and can be kept in no other way than by going and 
doing the works commanded. But Christ's saying is 
of an altogether different nature. Christ's saying is 
a message of good news which comes to us and which 
tells us that the Son of God became man and suffered 
and died in our sins, that He broke the bonds of 
death, rose again and ascended up to heaven to in- 
tercede for us with the Father and to prepare a place 



Victory Over Death. 45 

for US, and that when we come to die, we shall not 
go into everlasting darkness, but shall come to Christ 
and be with Him in everlasting blessedness. Now% 
how^ shall we keep that saying? Can we keep it by 
giving alms to the poor, or by practicing honesty in 
our dealings? This we should, of course, also do; 
but that is not keeping the word: 'The blood of Je- 
sus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." This 
saying we can keep only in the same way as we read 
of Mary, the mother of Jesus: ''But his mother kept all 
these sayings in her heart." Christ's saying we can 
keep in no other way than by keeping it in the heart, 
by resting our faith, trust and confidence on it. There 
is the word: 'Tt is a faithfuL_saying, and worthy of ail 
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to 
save sinners." This word I can keep in no other way 
than by believing it, by holding it as a faithful saying. 
There is the word: "J^^us Christ is the propitiation 
for our sin; and not for ours only, but also for the 
sins of the whole world." That word I can keep in 
no other way than by believing it and rejoicing over 
it; for it requires nothing of me, it only tells me that 
Christ is the reconciliation for my sins. So it is with 
the whole Gospel. It can be kept only by receiving 
it as a word of divine truth, and resting the heart's 
trust and confidence on it. How^ is it that so simple 
a thing as keeping His saying in faith causes us never 
to see death? It is because Christ will not be separ- 
ated from His Word. A man may go back on his 
word, but Christ not. Hold Christ's Word and you 
have Christ Himself. On this Dr. Luther very ap- 



46 For Children. 

propriately says: ''Because the Word proclaims Christ 
to us, it proclaims unto us Him who overcame death, 
sin, and the devil. Hence he that grasps and holds 
it grasps and holds Christ, and, therefore, obtains 
through the Word that he is delivered from death 
forever. Therefore it is a Word of life, and it is 
true whosoever keeps it shall never see death.'' So 
said Luther, and it is needless to add anything. 

HI. 

And now, what does the Lord promise to him who 
keeps His saying? "He shall never see death.'' And 
this the Lord afifirms with the double affirmation, 
"Verily, verily, I say unto you.'' Not does the Lord 
promise that he should not die, but he should not see 
death. On another occasion He, indeed, said: "I am. 
the resurrection, and the life: whosoever liveth and 
believeth in me shall never die," but there He was 
speaking in a different manner than here, as the 
words: 'T am the resurrection and the life'' show. 
Here the Lord makes a distinction between dying and 
seeing death. He that keeps Christ's saying shall 
indeed die, but he shall not see death. Dying and 
seeing death is not one and the same thing; there is 
a great difference between them. It is one thing to 
die, and another to see death. Death is the separation 
of soul and body, but seeing death is to see it as death 
in all its horridness. To the first we are all subject; 
we must all die, the Christian as well as the un-Chris- 
tian; but in the latter, the seeing death, there is no 
such equality; for he that keeps Christ's saying does 
not see death in his hideousness. And why not? Es- 



Victory Over Death. 47 

pecially because of two things. In the first place, 
he that keeps Christ's saying* has in that saying a sure 
and infalhble weapon to ward off those things which 
make death so awful to man. What are these things? 
They are: Sin, the curse of the law, and the just 
judgment of God. These are the things wdiich make 
death so terrible to sinful and mortal man. And 
against these things the saying of Christ affords a 
sure and effective weapon. If sin would trouble him, 
he that holds Christ's saying wards it off with the plea 
that Christ, the Lamb of God, has taken away his 
sins. If the law would accuse him, he answers that 
the Son of God was put under the law to redeem him 
from the curse of the law. If the judgment of God 
presents itself, he appeals to the word: ''He that be- 
lieveth on the Son, is not condemned." So he that 
keeps Christ's saying has in that saying a vveapon 
to ward oft' those things which torment the conscience 
in death, and which make death so bitter to man. 

Another reason why he that keeps Christ's saying 
does not see death although he dies is, because by 
this saying he knows where his soul is journeying to. 
He that does not keep Christ's saying must, at the 
very best, die in uncertainty. He has nothing infall- 
ible to hold to, no positively reliable guide, and, 
therefore, does not know where his soul will go, but 
is tormented with the evil foreboding that it will not 
fare well. He who does not keep Christ's saying, does- 
not believe His promises, may at the approach of 
death, indeed, say that he must go, but he can never- 
more sincerely say that he wants to go; for only with 



48 For Children. 

terror can he think of entering upon so uncertain a 
journey. One not keeping Christ's saying can never- 
more uprightly say as Paul does: ''I have a desire to 
depart/' But he who keeps Christ's saying knows 
where his soul is going; for he has the word of the 
Lord: ''Where I am there shall also my servant be." 
He who keeps Christ's saying knows, when the hour 
of death is come, that now he is going to Jesus Christ, 
the Beloved of his soul and going to Him he is not 
terrified. So the believer overcomes death, does not 
see it in all its hideousness, nor taste its pangs in all 
their sharpness, but holding the Lord's Word and 
Promise regards death as the entrance into eternal 
glory. He is like one standing at a river bank whose 
eye riveted by the beauties of the shore beyond does 
not see the rushing current of the waters. That this 
is the death of the believer the Lord establishes 
solemnly: ''Verily, verily.'' 

Blessed, blessed he who keeps the saying of Christ 
in his heart, so keeps it that it becomes rooted in him 
and death itself cannot uproot it; for verily, he shall 
never see death. Amen. 

IX. 

WHY CHRISTIAN PARENTS SHOULD NOT 

WEEP OVER THE DEATH OF 

THEIR CHILDREN- 

The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will 
preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom. 2 Tim. 4:18. 

The death of a child is always a great loss to its 
parents. All parents that are right parents, that have 



Weep Not. 49 

a feeling heart within their breast, love their chil- 
dren; their children are more dear to them than any- 
thing that they possess on earth outside of them. 
Now nobody likes to part w^ith that which he loves, 
and it is very natural that the loss of anything to 
which he clings affectionately, which he loves more 
than anything else, should give him the greatest pain. 
Who could wonder, then, that the death of a child 
should cause the most acute grief to the hearts of its 
parents? 

The death of a child is furthermore a loss to its 
parents, because on it are staked their hopes. They 
cherish in their heart the hope that at some future 
time their children will repay the trouble and pains 
and worry which they have caused them in their 
young days, and that they will be the joy and staff' of 
their old age, that they will possibly support them, 
when their limbs become unfit for work and strength 
begins to fail. Who, then, can blame parents for 
mourning, when these hopes are suddenly wiped 
away by the icy hands of death? 

Truly, we cannot think hard of you therefore, dear 
parents, for grieving over the loss of your child, 
which during these days you have had to experience 
We can sympathize with you, we can in a measure 
feel the pain that has rent your hearts. We can also 
see why your pain and grief should be greater than 
that of other parents would naturally be. When par- 
ents have a number of children around them, then the 
loss of one, although it is also felt, yet does not cut 
so keenly and sharply into their hearts and it is much 



50 For Children. 

more easily forgotten, than when they have only one 
child, and that one is taken from them, as was the 
case with you. For then there is nothing left to fill 
the vacant place in the heart and home of the parents, 
caused by its departure, nothing upon which their 
parental love can henceforth center. 

But, my friends, we who are Christians have a 
comfort even for this great grief. We know who in- 
flicts also this pain, and we know that He does it for 
our good. We know that also for the child itself 
death is meant for its own eternal welfare. Why, 
then, should we mourn as such that have no hope, no 
comfort? Nay, not so. Let us go to the unfailing 
source of comfort in al! troubles and trials and learn: 

Why Christian parents should not weep over the 
death of their children. 
The reason is: 

i) Because their children leave an evil, wicked 
world ; 

2) Because they enter a happy, blissful life. 

I. 

Ah yes, my friends, it is indeed an evil, wicked 
world that children leave behind them, if they are 
taken hence in death. Who can recount all the trou- 
bles and temptations that beset a man here in this 
life. Sickness, pain, toil, trouble, cares, and worry, 
that is what fills out our days. This earth, as Luther 
so aptly calls it in his Small Catechism, is but a "vale 
of tears." We, who are grown up to manhood and 
womanhood, who have lived in this world a number 



Weep Not. 51 

of years, we all have experienced this to some degree. 
We all know that nothing is perfect in this life, that 
everything is marred by some fault or imperfection, 
that all our joys are embittered by grief and trouble. 

These troubles and trials, then, which are so 
abounding in this world, will never fully cease so long 
as we may remain here below. We m.ust face them 
until this life comes to a close. Only death can fully 
deliver us from them. And nobody can hope to es- 
cape them, no one is entirely exempt from them. 
Some may not be afflicted as much as others, but all 
get their share of trouble and anxiety. Hence every 
one, no matter who he may be, must look forward to 
a life of w^orry and care, nobody can expect to be rid 
of these before death takes him out of their reach. 
Death is the only deliverer from the evils of this 
present world. This is what Paul speaks of in the text 
when he says: "The Lord shall deliver me from every 
evil work.'^ He is expecting to die soon and thus to 
be rid of all the evils of this life. 

Oh, who could be sorry for a young child, then, 
which God takes away by death, before it has become 
fully conscious of all the troubles and trials that sur- 
round it? Who would weep, because it has been 
spared a long life of misery here below? Do not weep 
and mourn over the death of your child, therefore, 
dear parents, but remember that all its pains and 
troubles are now forever ended, that it has left this 
evil world behind and is forever free from all its 
misery. 



52 For Children. 

This world, which your child has left, is further- 
more a wicked world. Yea truly, this is a world in 
which sin and iniquity abound and reign supreme. 
Wherever our eyes may turn they meet with the hide- 
ous monster of sin in a thousand different shapes. 
And not only is this world full of wicked people, nay, 
worse than that, these servants of iniquity also try 
their very best to lead us Christians with themselves 
into the meshes and toils of sin. Think of the manv 
and various kinds of snares by which they seek to 
lead us unawares into the path of perdition! To the 
one is held out the promise of riches, if he will only 
consent to make use of dishonest means to acquire 
them; another is tempted by the allurements of sin- 
ful pleasures ; another is laughed to scorn and ridicule 
about his piety and religion in order to induce him 
to renounce his faith. Truly, thousandfold are the 
dangers for our soul by which we are surrounded in 
this wicked world! Great, especially, are the tempta- 
tions it ofifers to the young. 

And all these dangers and temptations a child is 
spared, which dies and is thus removed out of their 
reach. Also your son has been taken away out of 
their midst to a place of everlasting safety. Oh, can 
you be sorry for it? Who knows what would have 
become of him, if God had left him here! Who knows 
whether he would not perhaps at some future time 
have been misled from the way of life on to the way 
of perdition. Remember, also your child was born 
sinful, also he was flesh born of flesh. His young 
heart was not pure and clean by nature, but it was in- 



Weep Not. 53 

clined to evil, and who can tell whether he would not 
perhaps have followed his sinful inclination later and 
gone astray! Perhaps with all the care and watch- 
fulness that you could have bestowed upon him you 
might not have been able to protect him from the 
dangers that would infallibly have beset him in later 
years. Therefore do not wish him back again into 
this wicked world, but rest assured that God knew 
w^hat was best for him as well as for you, and sub- 
mit vourselves to His w411. 

II. 

Yes, indeed, my friends, it is an evil, wicked world 
that a' child leaves behind, if it is taken out of it by 
death, but blissful, happy is the life which it is then 
permitted to enter. Ah, that is a life of everlasting, 
uninterrupted happiness and bliss. Paul gives ex- 
pression to this in the text when he says: ^'He will 
preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom.'' This is 
true of every Christian that he enters the heavenly 
kingdom when he dies, that is also the lot of bap- 
tized children at their death. 

Oh, my hearers, how shall I depict to you the bliss- 
ful state which they enjoy, who have been taken by 
the Lord into that heavenly kingdom above? How- 
shall I describe to you, dear parents, the heavenly 
joy that now swells the breast of your deceased child? 
Our poor human language has no words fitly to rep- 
resent that blissful state. Our weak, sinful minds 
cannot comprehend it! That is a place from which 
sin and every evil are excluded. There ''God shall 
wipe away all tears from the eyes of the blest; and 



54 For Children. 

there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor cry- 
ing, neither shall there be any more pain: for the 
former things are passed away.'' From that place of 
security all troubles and sufferings of this present 
world are shut out forever. From that place also sin 
and every form of wickedness are excluded, by which 
we are surrounded here. There we shall be perfectly 
renewed according to the holy image of our Creator, 
there we shall be free from every evil lust, from every 
sinful inclination and desire. There no Satan and no 
wicked person can come to lure us into the path of 
unrighteousness. There we will be perfectly safe 
from all dangers to our soul. Oh, can you be sorry 
that your child has entered that state of perfect safety 
and freedom from all evil? 

But this is not all. Up there is also the enjoyment 
of perfect, everlasting joy. Such joy and happiness 
does there fill the hearts of the saints, that here on 
earth wei are utterly unable to understand and com- 
prehend it. All the joys that this earth can afford, if 
they were all brought together and tasted by a person 
in one moment of time, would be nothing as a tiny 
drop of water against the mighty seas, when com- 
pared with the overwhelming happiness of yonder 
world. And that happiness is going to last forever! 
All the poor joys of this earth are fleeting as a phan- 
tom, they quickly flit past us as the shadows of the 
clouds that are driven by a hurricane. But those of 
the life to come will not be thus evanescent, they will 
never, never come to an end, they will extend into 
endless eternity. Oh, therefore rejoice, dear parents, 



Weep Not. 55 

rejoice amidst your tears, that your child was deemed 
worthy to enter that Hfe of eternal happiness, before 
it had scarcely tasted the bitterness of this world's 
sufferings and trials ! 

Therefore bear up under the loss that God in His 
wisdom has seen fit to inflict upon you. Your child 
has gone to heaven, of that you may be certain. For 
Christ has made it His own in Baptism, and He has 
now only taken it to Himself entirely, has removed it 
to that place, where no danger or harm can touch it. 
And when once your race is ended, when God will 
send His messenger Death to call you away from this 
earth, then your child will again be restored to you, 
then you will meet him up there before the throne of 
the Lamb and with him sing your joyful Hallelujahs 
to the praise of your God and Savior. God grant 
that we may all escape the snares of this evil world 
and safely reach that blessed place of happiness and 
security above. Amen. 



FOR CONFIRMED YOUTHS (13-17 Years) 

a) FOR BOYS. 



X. 

THE LORD GAVE, AND THE LORD HATH 

TAKEN AWAY; BLESSED BE THE 

NAME OF THE LORD. 

The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed 
be the name of the Lord. Job 1:21. 

It is not without good reason that the Lord has 
taught us to pray the Third Petition: ''Thy will be 
done on earth as it is in heaven.'' It is not always easy 
for us to submit ourselves to God's will. Our heart 
is an evil, perverse thing, which likes to go its ow^n 
way and think that its own counsels are always the 
wisest and best. When, therefore, the ways in which 
God leads us do not coincide with those we have laid 
out for ourselves, our heart is prone to rebel against 
His counsels, and we are not infrequently tempted 
to do what Job's wife advised him to do in his great 
distress, to ''curse God and die.'' Especially when 
trials and afflictions come upon us, when we are 
plunged into trouble or poverty, when sickness 
or even death visits our family, we often become im- 
patient or disconsolate. 

But it must not be so. We must not despond and 
despair, we must not become impatient and refrac- 
tory under the chastening rod of God, we must learn 



The Lord Gave. 57 

to bow meekly under His will, to pray with the Sa- 
vior in the midst of all trials and afflictions: "Father, 
if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: never- 
theless not my will, but thine, be done/' Even when 
death comes and takes away one of our loved ones, 
we must learn to say with Job in the w^ords of our 
text: 

"The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; 
blessed be the name of the Lord/' 

L 

It was in an hour of severe trial, a trial the like of 
which none of us have experienced, that Job spoke 
the words just quoted. By a divine dispensation he 
had lost all his temporal possessions in one single day. 
One messenger after another had come in, each one 
bringing him fresh news of disaster. And finally, 
when he had already received information that all 
his cattle, his oxen and. mules and sheep and camels, 
had either been killed or robbed, there came a fourth 
messenger and announced to him the greatest of all 
losses, the death of his ten children in a hurricane. 
Ah, surely, friends, that was a severe trial of faith, 
one which would have driven many a one either to 
despair or to turn his back upon God. But not so 
Job. He ''arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his 
head, and fell upon the ground, and worshipped, and 
said, ''Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and 
naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the 
Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the 
Lord.'' Amidst all outward demonstration of grief 
and anguish Job preserves a calm and submissive 



58 For Confirmed Youths 

heart, which acknowledges the hand of God in his 
sore affliction and patiently submits to His will. 

Let us profit bv the lesson we are taught by pious 
Job, let us learn to follow his example in all our 
trials and afflictions. And that this may be accom-. 
plished, let us apply his words to ourselves. Let us 
endeavor to find comfort in them in this present hour 
of bereavement. 

*'The Lord gave," Job says in the first place, when 
he hears of the death of his children. That is a truth, 
which all Christians know and believe, that their chil- 
dren are a gift of God. "Children are an heritage of 
the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward,"' 
says the Psalmist. Knowing this. Christians receive 
their children as gifts out of the hand of God with 
joy and thanksgiving. Knowing this they also love 
their children so much more tenderly, they love them 
for the sake of Him who gave them. But they love 
them also in the right manner, always placing the 
love of the Giver over the love of tlie gift. 

Again, knowing that their children are gifts of God,, 
Christians also perform their God-imposed duty 
towards them. They are aware of it that they can- 
not do with their children as they please, but that 
they are placed as stewards over them and are, there- 
fore, in duty bound to bring them up in accordance 
with the instructions laid down for them by God, the 
Giver of them, in His holy Word. Hence the en- 
deavor to bring them up "in the mirture and admoni- 
tion of the Lord," they prayerfully seek to train their 



^he Lord (^ave. 69 

children to become good Christians, leading them 
early to Christ, their Savior. 

Now you, dear parents — I am glad to be able to 
say it! — have thus viewed and do still thus view your 
relation towards your children, also to the son 
whom the Lord has thus taken from you. You have 
brought him and his sisters and brothers up in the 
nurture and admonition of the Lord. Having early 
brought him to Christ in Holy Baptism, you later 
had him instructed in the blessed truths of God's 
Word and confirmed as a member of our dear Luther- 
an Church. Nor did you neglect to give him a Chris- 
tian training at home, you set him a good example 
of true piety in your own walk as faithful Christians, 
you guarded him carefully against all the snares and 
temptations that beset his youthful feet, you urged 
him to study his catechism, to read the Bible and 
other good religious books, in short, you did all in 
your power to make him a good Christian and a 
faithful member of the church. And you have been 
amply rewarded for your care and pains. For he 
was not only a dutiful, obedient son to you, but what 
is more, he was a true Christian, a faithful child of 
God, a diligent attendant at Sunday-School and di- 
vine services. Ah, has not your labor been more 
than repaid? What a sweet comfort it is to you to 
know now that you have earnestly striven to do your 
duty towards this child, which God had given you, 
and to have the assurance that now the Lord has 
taken him to Himself into a better life! 



60 For Confirmed Youths. 

11. 

For it is indeed the Lord that has taken him from 
you. ''The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken 
away/' says Job. These words are also true in your 
case, and having learned the first lesson, having re- 
ceived this child as a gift from the hand of God and 
always looked upon him as such, it behooves you al- 
so to learn the second lesson now, to bow submis- 
sively to the will of God, now that He has taken this 
gift away from you. 

For that it is indeed the Lord who has done this 
thing to you, you can be absolutely certain. It is 
always the Lord that takes men away from this earth. 
He it is alone that has power over life and death. It 
is He, as the Psalmist says, ''that turns men to de- 
struction and says. Return, ye children of men.'' 
Job's story is itself a good proof for this. We are 
told in the first chapter, that it was Satan who robbed 
him of his children, but he did it by direct permis- 
sion of God. And later, when Job was himself af- 
flicted in his body, Satan by God's permission could 
only touch his body, but must spare his life. How 
plainly does the Lord show here, that He alone has 
power over life and death. So then we may be cer- 
tain of this, that whenever and wherever a person 
jdies, it is God that lakes his life. And therefore all 
parents, who are called upon to give up any of the 
children God has vouchsafed to them, may be sure 
that God has taken them. Yes, dear mourning par- 
ents, it is God who has also taken your child. Be- 
cause it was thus decreed in His will and gracious 



The Lord Gave. 61 

counsel that your son should die, therefore death has 
now come and taken him from you. 

Now wc know that, whenever God does something, 
He does it with some wise purpose in view. His 
acts are always prompted by wisdom and by love. 
And you may be sure that he has also done this thing 
to you with your own and your child's welfare in 
view. You may not be able to see His reason and 
understand His motive. Indeed, it is but natural 
that it should be so. For God's ways are often be- 
yond our comprehension. ''What I do, thou knowest 
not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.'' You do not 
know why He took your son away, but you will cer- 
tainly find out ''hereafter" why He has done it. Al- 
ready here below we can conceive of sundry rea- 
sons why He may have done it. If he had lived he 
might have gone astray, might have been entangled 
in the snares of this world's temptations and thus 
finally been lost eternally. Or it may be that his 
future life would have been darkened by great trials 
and sufifering, and to spare him these the Lord 
snatched him away before they came upon him. Or 
it may be that it was necessary in order to try your 
faith or to turn your affections aw^ay from this life 
to the life above and that it was for this reason that 
he was taken away, so that you might have an ob- 
ject of affection up in heaven to draw your desires 
and longings thither. These may have been some 
of the reasons that prompted God to do this thing, 
perhaps He may have had others, we cannot tell. 
But whatever His reason and purpose may have been, 



62 For Confirmed Youths. 

it is certain that it was a good and wise one. And 
when you leave this nether world and enter the one 
above, then you shall learn, what the reason was. 
There the veil shall be drawn away, there all the hid- 
den counsels of God shall be revealed and laid bare 
before our wondering eyes. There our mouth shall 
overflow with thanks and praises to Him who hath 
done all things well. 

III. 

But do not put ofif your praises of God's grace and 
wisdom until then, my friends. Nay, learn to say 
with Job already here below: ''The Lord gave, the 
Lord hath taken aw^ay; blessed be the name of the 
Lord.'' Yea, learn to say in the midst of this trib- 
ulation: ''Blessed be the name of the Lord." For 
we Christians ought indeed not only learn to bow 
meekly under the will of God in all trials and afflic- 
tions, but we can and ought to, learn to praise and 
thank Him for them. Indeed, knowing as we do 
that everything He sends us to bear, no matter how 
bitter it may taste to our flesh, is meant only for our 
best, for our temporal and eternal welfare, even 
though we often cannot understand the how and 
wherefore — knowing, I say that everything is meant 
for our best, what else could we do than praise God 
for it? Yes, indeed, we Christians can thank God in 
the midst of suffering and affliction, while our flesh 
is smarting under His chastening rod, we can lift 
up our eyes and hearts amidst tears and thank God 
for the very trials that are causing our tears to flow. 
For we know that the hand which smites us is the 



I am the Resurrection and the Life. 63 

hand of love, and not the hand of wrath. If the lat- 
ter were the case, it could only drive us to despair, 
but knowing that it is the former, we can gratefully 
kiss it while it smites us. 

Do you also, then, dear friends, even while your 
hearts are bleeding from the wound that God's hand 
has struck, lift them up to Him in thankful adora- 
tion. Ah yes, trusting Him implicitly that He means 
only your welfare and the welfare of him, whom He 
has taken from you, learn to thank Him that He has 
done this thing, learn to thank Him that He has taken 
your son away from this evil, wicked world to that 
eternal home of safety, where you are sure that he 
cannot be lost to you, but is only waiting for your 
coming to be forever united with you in joyful re- . 
union around the throne of God, where together with 
him you will then raise your eternal anthems to the 
praise of Him, who hath done all things well, who 
has led you so wondrously and yet so wisely here 
below. 



XL 
I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. 

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: 
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he 
live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never 
die. John 11:25, 26. 

East of Jerusalem there was a town by the name of 
Bethany. In it there once lived a happy family of 
two sisters and a brother. Jesus on his wanderings 



61- For Confirmed Youths. : * 

to and fro frequently stopped at their house when at 
Bethany. We are told that he loved the three dearly, 
for they believed on liim. They confessed Him to 
be the Christ, the Son of God, who should come into 
the world. You can imagine the happiness in that 
household where Jesus is a familiar and frequent 
guest. As this family, consisting of Mary, Marjjia and 
Lazarus, lived on in the sweet knowledge and comfort 
of their Savior, it happened one day that Lazarus was 
taken sick. At first, his sisters thought the disease not 
serious, but in the course of time Lazarus grew worse 
and worse and Jesus-, the all-healing Physician, was 
not near. They send for him, but He still tarries two 
days at the place where He is. The sickness growls 
w^orse, and Lazarus dies. Jesus, at a distance, tells His 
disciples what has happened by announcing to them 
that Lazarus is dead. 

He also says : 'T am glad for your sakes that I was 
not there to the intent ye may believe,'" and he straight- 
way wends his way towards the village. When near 
the town it is told Martha that the Master is coming, 
and she hastens to Him, saying that if He had been 
there, her brother would not have died. Jesus tells 
her that her brother shall rise again and confirms His 
statement with the w^ords, John it 125, 26: 'T am the 
resurrection and the life ; he that believeth in me, 
though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever 
liveth and believeth in me shall never die.'^ 

The event which happened centuries ago in that lit- 
tle village and by which it became famous, has hap- 
pened here. A brother, a dear son, has lived a short 



I am the Resurrection and the Life. 65 

life. We are standing about his mortal remains, 
mourning and weeping over the inevitable lot of the 
human race. Death causes pain ; the death of a dear 
one inflicts a deep wound in the hearts of the be- 
reaved. But unto such our text applies : ''I am the 
resurrection," etc. These words contain 

I. 

A blessed truth. It is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 
that says this, and He by His man}^ miracles, such as 
healing the sick ; curing the lame, the blind, the deaf ; 
raising the dead by a word, declared Himself with 
power to be the Son of God. There was no doubt 
existing, or possible, for the people that saw him ; 
they one and all admitted that He was a great prophet, 
the Son of the living God. His disciples firmly be- 
lieved in His divinity ; His friends called Him divine ; 
His Father declared the same from heaven ; His en- 
emies, the would-be-wise among the Jews, secretly ad- 
mitted it ; yea, the condemned spirits of darkness were 
constrained to confess him the Son of God. He was, 
He is, and ever shall be the almighty God. And it is 
He that speaks the words of our text : 'T am the resur- 
rection and the life.'' 

This Jesus, wdio is God and man in one person, be- 
gotten of the Father from eternity and born of the 
Virgin Mary, took upon Himself the sins of the hu- 
man race ; all transgressions of God's commandments 
were placed upon His shoulder; ''the Lord laid on him 
the iniquity of us all." Man had violated, and does 
still violate the divine Law daily and frequently, but 
Jesus took these sins upon him and suflFered for them. 



66 For Confirmed Youths. 

The sins of all, yours and mine, made him bleed, suf- 
fer and die. The superhuman weight and burden cast 
him into the grave. ^'He was wounded for our trans- 
gressions. He was bruised for our iniquities, the chas- 
tisement of our peace was upon him.'' *'He was de- 
livered for our offences." He went into the dark val- 
ley of death on account of sin. But on the third day 
He rose again from the dead; He resumed life after 
resting in the grave three days by His power, to de- 
clare unto us that his atonement for sins had been 
accepted at the throne of God. Jesus ^^is risen from 
the dead and become the firstfruits of them that 
slept."'' He is the resurrection and the life. 'Tis a 
blessed truth. 

He is the resurrection; He is Hfe, having immor- 
tality and unfading, imperishable, and unchanging life 
in Himself; He imparts the same to others, so that 
they need not, and cannot die. Therefore "whosoever 
believeth in him, though he were dead, yet shall he 
live." The man that believes in Him, though dead, 
yet lives; he has unfading life in Jesus. He cannot 
perish. Death to him is but the separation of soul and 
body. What we call death is the departure of the soul 
from the body, but in reality, it is the soul's entrance 
into life in heaven. The body we bury qut of sight ; it 
turns into dust and earth ; but this dust shall rise again 
to glory, for the man believed in Jesus, who is the 
resurrection and the life. 

How happy the man that has faith, true faith in 
Jesus Christ ! ''God so loved the world that He gave 
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 



I am the Resurrection and the Life. 67 

Him should not perish but have everlasting life.'* 
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
even so must the Son of man (Jesus) be hfted up, that 
whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have 
eternal life." ''God sent not His Son into the world 
to condemn the world, but that the world through 
him might be saved." "He that beheveth on the Son 
hath everlasting life." These are promises that are 
made to all believers. They are to live, possess eter- 
nal life, and enjoy everlasting happiness. 

And herein lies a great comfort for us in this hour 
of affliction. The deceased was a believer in Christ 
Jesus. He believed in Him who says, "I am the res- 
urrection and the life. I am the way, the truth, and 
the life ; no man cometh unto the Father but by me." 
He assured me of his faith in Christ. He confessed 
that he was a sinner, but also that his sins were for- 
given through the atonement and death of Christ, and 
therefore he has entered into life, for "he that believeth 
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ; and 
whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die i" 
We have no reason to mourn this death ; knowing 
him to be happy, why should we weep? His death is 
but a sleep. The grim foe, whom the wicked and un- 
believers so greatly dread, has nothing fearful for the 
Christian ; it is as the Scriptures say, a falling asleep ; 
and that it is such, became quite apparent at the de- 
parture of the deceased. Before we knew it, his soul 
had gone hence, and his body, with an expression of 
peace and rest upon his countenance, reclined upon 



68 For Confirmed Youths. 

the couch. No agony, no fear, no dread — a calm re- 
pose. 

Asleep m Jesus ! blessed sleep ! 
From which none ever wakes to weep ; 
A calm and undisturbed repose, 
Unbroken by the last of foes. 

II. 

This statement, 'T am the resurrection, etc.," con- 
tains, in the second place, a great lesson. "Man Uiat 
is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.'' 
Human life at its best is short and fleeting. It soon 
passes away ; childhood is short, manhood is short, 
old age is short. The spring of youth is soon flown ; 
the summer of manhood is chased by the autumn of 
old age. How short is life, how quickly it is spent. 
''The days of our years are threescore years and ten 
(70 years) and if by reason of strength they be four 
score years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow, 
for it is soon cut oft* and we fly away.'' And in all the 
states of life we are ever pursued by death, man may 
die at any age. He knows that he shall die, but how^ 
he shall die, and when he shall die, and where he shall 
die, is not known to him. This man was taken in the 
midst of life — 33 years — others have been taken at a 
greater, many at an earlier age. 

How necessary for us to be ready for the summons. 
The true object of all preaching at funerals can be but 
this, to tell us to prepare for death ; every death 
teaches us this. Its exhortation, then, is : ''Accept the 
salvation offered." As eternal life and eternal death. 



Confirmed Indeed. 09 

heaven and its happiness, hell and its torments de- 
pend upon our believing or not believing, let us be- 
lieve as he did, who has left yru ; believe in Jesus who 
is the resurrection and the life. 

There is life in a look at the Crucified One, 
There is life at this moment for thee, 

for ''he that believeth in him, though he Vv^ere dead, 
yet shall he live ; and whosoever liveth and believeth 
in him shall never die.'' 



XII. 
CONFIRMED INDEED. 

The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and 
will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom. 2 Tim. 4:18'. 

With the grateful thoughts of Christian parents 
who are privileged to see their children kneeling at the 
altar of the Lord on confirmation dav, and vowing 
faithfulness unto death to Jesus their Lord, there will 
mingle sad reflections on their children's future. Will 
that vow be kept? Will the confirmation which takes 
place in our earthly tabernacles be the fore-shadowing 
of a greater confirmation on a day when the Lord 
Himself shall admit His confessor, not to the spiritual 
privileges of the saints in light here below, but to the 
incorruptible inheritance of the saints m glory? For 
thousands of young people are every year breaking 
their confirmation vow soon after they have made it ; 
and when they die in their unrepented sin, their de- 
parture does not lead to the great confirmation at 



70 For Confirmed Youths. 

which the Author and Finisher of our faith shall im- 
mutably fix the everlasting happiness of His believers, 
so that, like the good angels, who are confirmed in 
their blissful estate, they cannot be tempted any more 
or fall away from Christ. 

The young Christian whom we shall escort to-day 
to his last resting place, had recently been confirmed 
in the faith of our church ; i. e. he had declared that, 
forsaking this evil world, he had cast his lot with those 
w^ho look for a better world acquired by the suffering 
of Jesus. And we pronounced him, in Jesus' name, an 
heir with us of heavenly life. We prayed that ''the 
Lord would deliver him from every evil work, and pre- 
serve him unto his heavenly kingdom." That the 
Lord has now done. The great confirmation has now 
taken place ; he is henceforth confirmed indeed. In an 
exalted sense the solemn words of the pastor, which 
declared him a member to the full extent in our earth- 
ly church, can to-day be repeated, now that he has 
been admitted to the house not made with hands, eter- 
nal in the heavens. For our comfort let us, therefore, 
connect our present burial service with our late con- 
firmation service. And that the more, because con- 
firmation, that laudable institution of our Church, has 
proven to the departed an aid to salvation, although 
it is not a sacrament, or a means of grace. 

I desire to show that our departed brother is now 

CONFIRMED INDEED. 

i) Christ has delivered him from all evil, and de- 
clared him a member of the church triumphant. 



Confirmed Indeed. 71 

2) Christ has preserved him unto His heavenly 
kingdom, and invited him to partake of all its privi- 
leges. 

I. 

For now has the Lord, in whom this child believed, 
said : I in my own name and power declare you to be 
a member of the church triumphant. Is it hard for 
you to look upon his departure in that light? Stop 
and think ! What did those words, ''I declare you to 
be members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church'' 
mean? Surely not only that your child was privileged 
to be a member of that visible communion, which we 
know by that name. Surely, not only that his name 
was to be found on the communion roll of our church. 
It meant more. It meant that he, by his own volun- 
tary act and profession before all the world, was now 
a member of God's kingdom of grace, into which he 
had entered by Baptism. It meant his name was 
to be found, not only upon the register of this, our 
church, but in God's book of life. It meant and de- 
clared that he was by faith a member of the church 
invisible ; and in hope, a member of that portion of it 
which is on high, the church triumphant. 

His early death is therefore but God's fuller con- 
firmation of his blessedness ; God's almighty seal upon 
our poor efforts in his behalf. His death is a consum- 
mation of what God began in his Baptism, carried on 
in his Christian training and completed by now taking 
him to Himself. His death is in reality an answer to 
our prayer, ''that they, to all Thy pleasure may con- 
tinue to grow in Christ, our common head, and come 



72 For Confirmed Youths. 

unto a perfect man in all wisdom, holiness and right- 
eousness/' 

True, you no doubt did not expect to see your 
prayer answered in this manner. You, perhaps, un- 
consciously, marked out the manner of God's grant- 
ing it by desiring a long and useful Christian life for 
him. 

But does not God know best? Does not He, who 
knoweth how we carry our treasures in earthen ves- 
sels amxid the constant dangers of losing them as so 
many who once swore fealty to Him, have lost — does 
not He know best? Is not his the better lot? He has 
out-stripped us in the race, he has heard, not his 
Lord's servant, but his Lord himself say : I, Christ 
Jesus, who redeemed thee ; I, who adopted thee as my 
own ; I who sanctified and preserved thee in my Gos- 
pel kingdom of Grace, I declare thee to be a member 
of my church triumphant, there to dwell in righteous- 
ness and purity forever. 

H. 

Yes, more than that, I 'Svill preserve you into my 
heavenly kingdom and invile you to partake of all its 
privileges, goods and blessings for your . . . eter- 
nal salvation.^' 

Who can describe them ! What pen can portray, 
what brush depict, what tongue recount the privileges, 
goods and blessings which our Lord has prepared for 
us in His Church triumphant? What eye can see, what 
ear hear, what heart even faintly grasp the transcend- 
ent beauty, glory and fulness of these privileges, 
goods and blessings, which are kept for us in heaven? 



Confirmed Indeed. 73 

True, we already now possess these things in hope, bill 
our vision and appreciation of them is so much blurred 
by our infirmities, that any description, even that of 
John in Revelations, calls up only a faint image of 
their true character and glory. 

But think of this your beloved child, standing be- 
fore his Lord and our Lord, clad in that dazzling 
white robe of His righteousness, looking into his Sav- 
ior's loving face with eager, expectant gaze, listening 
to His precious declaration and invitation : ''I declare 
you to be (not by faith, not merely in hope, but in 
reality), I declare you to be a member of my church 
triumphant/' "I invite you to partake of all its privi- 
leges, goods and blessings, for your eternal salvation." 
Ah, now he is confirmed indeed. Now he is blessed 
indeed, not for time, but for eternity. 

Beloved, it has often seemed to me that we grown 
children are more than fond of playing "make believe" 
with God. We bring our ciiildren to God in Baptism. 
We stand in His presence and say : Lord, we bring 
Thee our child. We beseech Thee to receive it. Em- 
brace it, bless it, lay Thy divine hand upon it as Thou 
didst in the days of Thy flesh. Take it for thine own. 
Give it true faith and everlasting life. And when our 
Lord takes us at our word we weep and lament ; aye, 
w^e sometimes even murmur against Him. 

We try to brmg up our children in the nurture and 
admonition of the Lord. We teach them to consecrate 
themselves to Him ; to say : ''Thou art mine, I am 
Thine, no one can us sever;" we assist them with our 
prayers, and then when our gracious and allwise God 



74 For Confirmed Youths. 

does take them to Himself, we are often filled with an 
unholy desire to rebel against this very thing which 
we so often in word and deed invited. 

Ah, I would not have you to stand beside this open 
grave with hearts of stone, crushing down every tender 
thought and emotion. For death, *'the wages of sin,'' 
is verily a ''king of terrors." But look beyond the 
grave. Mourn, not as they which have no hope, but 
as Christians who look upon death as a gate to life. 

Look up to that blessed place and try to hear with 
the ears of faith those blessed words from the Savior's 
lips: ''I declare you to be a member of my church tri- 
umphant." ''I invite 3^ou to partake of all its privi- 
leges, goods and blessings for your eternal salvation." 
Therein is comfort. May God help you find it. Amen. 



b). FOR GIRLS. 

XIIL 

THE RIGHTEOUS TAKEN AWAY FROM 
. , THE EVIL TO COME. 

The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: 
and merciful men are taken away, none considering that 
the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He 
shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each 
one walking in his uprightness. Isaiah 57:1, 2. 

"There is something mysterious about early deaths. 
They present to us a problem insoluble by our poor 
reason. They seem at first sight inconsistent alike 
with the Divine wisdom, power and love. They look 



Righteous Taken Away From Evil. 75 

almost like the frustration of God's plans and pur- 
poses, a failure in His sovereign designs. It is the 
architect just completing his work when that work 
comes with a crash to the ground. It is the sculptor 
putting the finishing strokes of his chisel on the vir- 
gin marble, when the toil of months or years strews 
the floor of his studio. It is the gardener bringing forth 
from his conservatory the long husbanded plants in 
their freshness and beauty to bask in the summer sun, 
when a frost or hailstorm suddenly comes and in a mo- 
ment they are gone. How strange 1'' 

''Oh, we can understand the removal of a hoary- 
headed sinner, the man who has grown grey in iniqui- 
ty ; the world is well rid of such, for they lived like the 
fabled upas tree, only to diffuse around them moral 
corruption and death. We can understand the remov- 
al of the aged Christian, the veteran standard-bearer 
who has fought the fight and entered into his rest. 
Some can wonder at the shock of corn cut do\Mi in its 
season, fully ripe. But wliy destroy the green ear, the 
budding flower. Above all — for such thoughts will, 
despite a better faith, force themselves on the crushed 
spirit, — why has God, the Great, the Good, the Loving 
God, nurtured affections in the human bosom only 
prematurely to blight and destroy them? AA^hy has 
He created tender ties — causing affection to tvrine its 
fibres around the roots of the heart, and then, when 
these fibres are strongest, and affection deepest, why 
does He wrench the loved tendrils away." 

Thoughts such as these, no doubt, now fill your 
hearts, my friends, and are pressing for some answer. 



76 For Confirmed Youths. 

Will you go with me into the sanctuary, into the 
Word of truth, seeking some solution of the problem. 
Will you put the question to God? Ah, if you will 
only do that, you need not lack a reply, for quick and 
sure comes the response to your aching heart : 

'The righteous is taken away from the evil to come. 
He shall enter into peace : they shall rest in their beds, 
each one walking in his uprightness.'' 

I. 

'The righteous is taken away from the evil to 
come." It w^as so in the case of Josiah, the boy king 
of Israel, whom God compassionately spared those 
sorrows of siege and torture and captivity, plunder of 
holy treasure and firing of the cities of his kingdom by 
''taking hm away'' before the coming of proud Baby- 
lon's armies. Ah yes, we now see that "he was merci- 
fully taken away from the evil to come." 

But, pastor, you will say, how does that apply here? 
Surely our child had every comfort, every privilege 
that loving hands could provide. Surely we would 
have done our duty in the future as we did in the past. 
What is this "evil to come?" 

I do not know. Nor did the patriot band who bore 
their young king bleeding from the fray, know of the 
impending evil. Had they known of all that was about 
to befall their land it would have moderated that loud 
wail of sorrow which rose from the valley of Megid- 
don. But they did not know. God knew, and He 
knows best. Surely the subsequent history of Israel 
proves that. 



Righteous Taken Away From Evil. 77 

]\Iay not this be true here to-day? True, we know of 
no evil to come. The future is veiled from us. God 
graciously places His almighty hand over His chil- 
dren's eyes and leads them through the labyrinth of 
this present time. It would therefore be both wrong 
and foolish for us to try to tear His hand away and 
look into the dark future, if such a thing were possible, 
instead of submitting w^holly to His loving care and 
guidance. Fortunately the future is mercifully hid- 
den. Were this not so, we no doubt could often see 
more of God's love and wisdom in these early graves. 
As it is they remain a riddle to our unaided intellect. 

But here is the word of God. ''The righteous are 
taken away from the evil to come." Who can tell if 
the loved and early lost had been spared, what trials 
might have been in reserve for them? Aye more, what 
sins and temptations might have overtaken them? 
Who can tell what pain your home was spared by this 
early removal? God, who foresees all, knows best. 
Better, far better, that the lamb be early taken from 
the fold, wdth its fleece unstained, than left to pine up- 
on blighted herbage and come in footsore, tleece-torn 
by its wanderings amid the thorns of this present time. 
Yes, God knows best. "The righteous are taken away 
from the evil to come.'' 

n. 

But the words of the prophet give also a positive ex- 
planation of the mystery of early death (verse 2) : ''He 
shall enter into peace : they shall rest in their beds, 
each one walking in his uprightness.'' 



78 For Confirmed Youths. 

Josiah, when he died ''entered into peace." This is a 
beautiful Old Testament evidence of the immediate 
blessedness of the departed righteous. They enter in- 
to their peace. Their walk is not arrested, even though 
the body rest in the ''bed" of the grave ; it is only trans- 
ferred to another sphere. It has "entered into peace." 

If the death of the young were annihilation ; if the 
orb underwent eternal eclipse; if there were even a per- 
iod of intermediate suspension of consciousness and 
active energy; then such removal would bemysterious; 
the blank would be a blank indeed. But their sun has 
not been blotted out from the firmament ; it has only 
sunk behind tlie line of our visible horizon. They en- 
ter into peace, God's peace, there to walk before Him 
in uprightness. Heaven, then, is but an expansion and 
development of this life. "He that is righteous, let 
him be righteous still ; and he that is holy, let him be 
holy still." How then can we speak of early death at 
all? That "early" is a term only relative to the body — 
that which rests in the grave awaiting the resurrection. 
The immortal soul walks before God. That is true 
life. 

Life is not to be measured and computed by formal 
arithmetic, counted by days, months and years. No, 
the fourscore years of a misspent life is no life at all. 
It is a mere bankruptcy of being. Whereas, that is the 
truest length of days, where, it may be for a brief and 
consecrated season, some young life has shown glori- 
ously for God. Which, then, is the real length of 
days? Is it the short life of a child, such as your 
daughter, who in her Baptism was early brought to 



Weep Not, She Sleepeth. 79 

the Savior, who was fed upon the green pastures of 
His precious Word, who vowed allegiance and faith- 
fulness to her Savior and is now entered into the peace 
of God, leaving the sweetest of memories behind her. 
Surely the latter is the real length of days. 

Therefore, my friends, we can stand at the grave of 
this yoimg believer and almost hear this truth ringing 
like a chime from heaven : ''The righteous is taken 
away from the evil to come/' We can listen as to the 
whisperings of angels hovering around this grave, hal- 
lowed by our Savior's burial : ''She shall enter into 
peace ;" ''she rests on her bed ;" ''she shall walk in up- 
rightness." 

Let us therefore say : ''She asked life of Thee, and 
Thou gavest it to her, even length of days forever and 
ever.'' Ps. 21 14. Lord, Thou knowest best. Thy will 
be done ; yea, blessed be the name of the Lord. Amen. 
(Adapted from Macduff. '^The Harp taken from the Willows.") 



XIV. 

WEEP NOT; SHE IS NOT DEAD, BUT 
SLEEPETH. 

Weep not, she is not dead, but sleepeth. Luke 8:52. 

It is not quite two weeks ago that I stood here, and 
some of you now present sat there and we spoke of the 
fading- year and of the dawn of this New Year, 1893. 
Naturally our thoughts turned to the future ; ''here," 
we said, ''here we are taking the step which carries us 
into the New Year. Oh, if we could raise the veil that 



80 For Confirmed Youths. 

God has thrown over this coming year !'' Yes, who 
was then among us who could refrain from asking 
the question : What will the New Year bring me, what 
has the Lord in store for me. Here again are 365 days 
and each of them has 24 hours, what may not happen 
in those many hours ! 

'What,'' said many a careworn soul, ''what, will 
there be tears to shed, will there be days of sorrow 
and grief among those many days?" "Will there be 
partings?" And those of us who are Christians said: 
''Those 365 days are dark to me, but He that has 
promised to be with me always even unto the end of 
the world, He wall be with me also in the coming- 
years, as He was with me in the past." We felt, even 
' though we did not express it in so many words, we 
felt what the poet says : 

I know not w4iat the future hath 

Of marvel or surprise, 
Assured alone that life or death 

His mercy underlies. 

I know not where His islands lift 

Their fronded palms in air, 
I only know I cannot drift 

Beyond His love and care. 

And now we have traveled only a short distance in 
the New Year, and here we see what the Lord had in 
store for us ; He had tears for us all, dear brother and 
sister, a parting for you, dear children, a parting for 
you, her classmates, for us the teachers, for the 
whole congregation, a parting for me the pastor. 



Weep Not, She Sleepeth. 81 

One of our faithful ones has taken her leave to be with 
Christ. 

Oh, what shall we do? What shall we say? how can 
we express the grief that moves our inmost heart? 
Let us hear what the Lord, who took her, saith to us ; 
let us allow Him to speak to us here at the early de- 
parture of our beloved daughter and sister in Christ ; 
we find His words in the Gospel according to St. 
Luke in the 8th chapter, where we read as follows in 
the 52nd verse : 

''Weep not, she is not dead, but sleepeth."' 
*'Weep not,'' saith Christ. How now, does Jesus 
w^ish to forbid our tears? Does He wish to tell* us that 
it is sinful to weep over the departure of those whom 
we love? Does He intend to forbid us to express 
what we cannot help but feel? Can He mean that we 
are to stand cold and insensible at the graves of those 
who were dear to us as our own hves? No, He could 
not have meant that, He that wept Himself, when He 
heard of the departure of Lazarus, His friend. No, He 
does not forbid our tears, His meaning is rather this : 
Weep not, as though you had lost her ; weep not, as 
those who have no hope ; weep not, as though your 
daughter and sister were gone forever; weep not, as 
though she had died ; she is not dead, but sleepeth. 

Those who stand at the graves of their loved ones 
without hope, they weep in despair; their tears roll, 
and they are without comfort; to them it is death, 
nothing less ; they beheve that the cord is broken, 
never to be united again ; they believe that the loved 
ones are wrested from their arms never to be given 



82 For Confirmed Youths. 

back ; they believe they have heard the last words from 
their lips, and now they see nothing but a dark, un- 
fathomable abyss from which there is no help ; in 
short, they are in despair, they are without the faintest 
comfort. ''Oh," says Jesus to us, weep not, as those 
ungodly people weep,'' w^eep not as though there was 
no faith and no glorious hope in your heart, but rather 
weep as though she had departed on a long journey to 
some distant shore, where she is now waiting to re- 
ceive you, after you will have traveled the same road.'' 
Oh, therefore, though we must shed tears at seeing 
her go and leaving us behind, yet let us think, amid all 
those te*ars, let us think of that glorious day, when we 
also shall have arrived in the habitation of our heav- 
enly Father. Let us tliink of this, that now we have 
her in heaven and when our stuiimons comes we may 
say, I am going where Christ is, my Savior, where the 
saints are, and where she is, and thus heaven is bright- 
er to us, because she is there, and it will always be to 
us the home of the Savior and her home, no strange 
place, btit a well-known, cheerftil, gloriotis place of 
peace and rest and bliss. Yes, she is not dead, she is 
only resting, sleeping ; sleeping until the sotmd of the 
last trumpet shall waken her and us. And think of 
what a joyful awakening that will be ! Here you saw 
her in this wicked world, here our adversary, the devil, 
as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may 
devour. Think of the dangers, the temptations that 
surrounded her. Oh, when we consider how many 
and earnest prayers of a loving mother and a god-fear- 
ing father, how much constant attention from a pastor 



Weep Not, She Sleepeth. 83 

it takes to protect our young C hristians from the temp- 
tations of the world, and their own tlesh and blood, 
then we feel almost relieved \o know : "Xow at last she 
is safe in heaven, beyond the reach of sin and Satan/' 
AMien you saw her here in this vale of tears, you saw 
her in weakness, in sickness, in pain, in trouble, in 
anxiety, and even when she smiled the thotight came : 
how soon can that smile die away and tears take its 
place. Xo, this was no place for her tender and sensi- 
tive nature, but now when you will nteet her again, 
you will see her in those almighty, loving, comforting 
arms of Jestis ; you will see your child and sister at 
peace, at rest ; no sigh shall ever pass her lips again, no 
tear bedew her fair countenance ; there we shall see 
her and her eyes will meet otirs and those lips that 
joined tis here in the hymns of the chtirch will join tis 
there in the sweet melodies of the angels to the praise 
of Christ, our Savior. Oh, when we think of tliat, 
then we can say: "Yes, I cannot help but weep to 
think that for a time I must be separated from her, btit 
in my tears and weeping, I feel already the joy of see- 
ing her again never to part from her any more, never 
to have her taken from me." Therefore let us moder- 
ate our grief, let us not weep, she is not dead, but 
sleepeth. 

But there is another reason for Christ's ''weep not.'' 
He wishes to say : "W'eep not," as though she was 
taken away too early. 'Tis true the Lord has taken 
her away in the days of her yotith, when youthful 
health and beatity shone in her cotmtenance, when life 
sparkled in its most brilliant colors, but thou^^h she 



84 For Confirmed Youths. 

was taken as a budding liowcr is broken, vet we know 
that God and her Savior knew the very hour when it 
was most profitable for her, for you, for us aU. Christ's 
eyes beheld lier here on earth among the thotisands, 
and out of them all He ehose her, He eould wait for 
her no longer, and He gave the eonnnand to his an- 
gels : "Open the portals of heaven and let her come in 
whom I have chosen to be with me in eternal joy and 
happiness ; henceforth no grief shall totich her, no 
sorrow ruffle her peace, she shall battle no more in 
that wicked world, let her rest." Yes, while we were 
thinking of her future and many plans were made, 
Christ saw her and chose her and said, "She is for me 
and my heaven," and thus she entered in unto the joy 
of her Lord. 

And now, what I say, I say to all. Weep not so 
nuich over her, she is not dead, but sleepeth ; but weep 
rather over yoiu*selves. How soon may I stand here 
again to speak at yoiu' coffin, and could I then say of 
you wdiat I have said of her? Slie knelt here not quite 
two years ago and made her confirmation vow, and 
she kept it. She shrank back from the rough touch of 
the world and in maidenly grace and modesty she ran 
her coiu'se here on earth. Yes, she as the first one of 
those who vowed faithfulness unto their Savior at this 
altar is saved and has entered glory. She has fought 
a good fight, she has finished the course, she has kept 
faith, henceforth is given her a crown of righteousness, 
which the Lord, the Jtist Jtuige, will give her on that 
day. Oh, fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, 
friends and strangers, let us strive these few vears to 



Weep Not. She Sleepeth. 85 

depart as the deceased, namely, in the sure and tlrm 
faith in Christ ; for the last time that I saw her in life 
and asked her, on whom she rested her hope of salva- 
tion, whether she rested in Christ, she answered : 
**Ves.'' There on Mount Calvary where He paid His 
precious blood for her and died, thither her eyes of 
faith were directed. And though she had no gross 
neglects, for ever since her confirmation she has at- 
tended the service, and only a short while ago she 
was found among those who received the Lord's Sup- 
per, yet she knew that she was not perfect, but that if 
others saw not her faults, yet she and her God knew 
them, and therefore she took her refuge to her Savior 
Jesus. 

And she showed her faith in her life and behavior. 
She was a dutiful and loA'ing daughter, a kind and af- 
fectionate sister, a gentle and true friend, a modest 
girl and a devoted Christian, and was willing to serve 
her Lord so that a part of her last strength was spent 
in serving Him here in the Sunday School. Yet when 
she knew that she mtist appear before the JiKige, she 
wished to be only a poor sinner resting in the Savior 
and confessed it ere she passed awav. 

Oh, that we may be granted such a sweet, peaceful 
Christian sleep ! ]*^Iay the Lord find us also watching, 
so that we who have been parted from her here may 
after a short time be again united with her for all 
eternitv. Amen. 



86 For Confirmed Youths. 

XV. 
ADDRESS. 

Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he 
Cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he 
shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, 
and will come forth and serve them. Luke 12:37. 

Parting from those v^ho are dear to us is always 
painful. We feel a pang in taking leave from those 
w^hose very presence is a joy to us. 

But unspeakable anguish is added when death sep- 
arates us from one whose very life was entwined with 
ours, when death parts us from those whose joys were 
our joys, and whose sorrows were our sorrows. At 
such a time it seems that one purpose of our life is 
gone, yea, that a part of our life itself has been wrested 
and forced from us. Such is the sadness and sorrow 
in an intensified degree that fills your hearts, my be- 
loved, as you look upon the lifeless form of one who 
was so near, so dear, to you, who filled a place in your 
deepest affection that no one else can fill — you feel the 
smarting pain that such a sad parting by death and 
the grave has inflicted. The separation from a dear 
friend and from a loving sister, — above all the parting 
of a mother and child, has brought this distressing 
sorrow to your heart and fdled your eyes with bitter 
tears of sorrow. 

But there is another sorrow that threatens at this 
hour to spread a gloom, a deep gloom over our souls. 
We are tempted to weep, not only because of our 
bereavement, but to lament also because of her who 
has departed. No doubt such thoughts as these have 



Address. 87 

arisen in our hearts. How sad that one so young and 
happy must leave this world. Ah, she has been cut 
down as a beautiful flower that had scarcely begun to 
bud. Her day closed before the sun, which rose in 
such splendor and with such promise of future bril- 
liancy had reached its zenith. Before the spring of her 
life had spread its full grandeur of blossom and growth 
around her, her days were suddenly ended. While 
many of her friends and companions were left to bloom 
and grow on, she is laid lifeless into the grave. Such 
thoughts, I say, may threaten to overwhelm some or 
all of us with regret. for her. But however sad her 
fate may appear to the unenlightened reason of the 
worldly-minded — if we view her lot in the light of 
Holy Writ — we shall find no cause to weep for her, 
but we shall learn that ''the lines are fallen unto her 
in pleasant places ; yea that she has a goodly heritage." 
We shall learn that her lot is not one to be dreaded, 
but one to be desired above even the chief joys of this 
world. For of all of us we may say: May the Lord 
when He comes find us watching and doing His will ; 
but of her we may truthfully say: "Hallelujah! The 
Lord found her watching and doing His will and He 
has taken her from labor and sorrow to rest and to 
bliss and has raised her from the position of His 
handmaiden here on earth to be a princess in His ev- 
erlasting kingdom of glory." Is there one among us 
who thinks : ''Ah we could apply to her the words of 
the text with more confidence if she had been granted 
some time to prepare herself for death, but as it is she 
was summoned so suddenlv, without a moment for 



88 For Confirmed Youths. 

prayer, without a single word of direction or of conso- 
lation from pastor or parent, without warning ; in one 
moment she was taken from active life to appear be- 
fore God." Now, it is true we all wish for a time of 
special preparation for our end. Yet it is also unquest- 
ionably true that a true Christian is always ready. 
And, praised be God, of this we may feel confident 
that she, over whom w^e now weep, was such a true 
Christian. Her life is to us a reassuring witness that 
her heart was at peace with God. She heard and 
learned the Word of God gladly. Her deliglit was in 
the law of the Lord, and in her conduct we saw the 
beautiful fruits of such devotion to God's Word. vShe 
was like a tree at the rivers of waters that bringeth 
forth its fruit in its season. Her quiet Christian be- 
havior, her submissive obedience, her loving attach- 
ment to her mother, her devotion to duty, these were 
not the products of a carnal mind, but gave evidence 
of the blessed work of the Holy Ghost upon her heart. 
And though we can record no last verbal expression 
of her faith, no prayer uttered in the hour of her death, 
yet we can say : 'The Lord, when He came, found 
her doing," and that is after all the very best that we 
can say of any one who is dear to us. Words, though 
they be the most beautiful expression of faith, will be 
to works but as leaves are to tlie fruit. 

The Lord found her in the midst of that work which 
was the duty assigned to her, not an occupation chos- 
en from whim, but one that was the choice of parent 
and child and in which she labored diligently and 
faithfully. While engaged in the duties of this calling, 



Address. 89 

viz., while at school where slie had hardly recited with 
credit a difficult lesson she was through sudden failure 
of the heart removed from all labor to the rest of those 
who die in the Lord. How emphatically may we then 
and how joyfully do we say : "The Lord found her 
watching and so doing." He found fruit— not merely 
leaves, but fruit. It is not two weeks since she knelt 
at this altar to receive new strength for the work of 
life in the blessed Sacrament of the Altar, and now in 
this strength of the Lord she has passed through the 
valley of the shadow of death. Li deed we need not 
hesitate to say that she was found faithful and pre- 
pared, and therefore God Himself pronounces her 
blessed. What of it if the world pities her, and be- 
wails her fate — God pronounces her blessed. 

Wherein then does the blessing consist? Her bliss 
consists first in this ; that the Lord found her. It does 
not say of a Christian that death finds him, but the 
Lord finds him. So also the Lord found her, not 
death. For death is the w^ages of sin, but her sin had 
been forgiven and she had through Baptism and faith 
been delivered from the power of death, and as her 
conversation was in heaven, so she also awaited from 
thence the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And He 
has come, the heavenly bridegroom has found her and 
has led her from this strange land to His own home 
in heaven. Is that not the consummation of the bride's 
deepest wish and longing? Is that not blessedness 
and happiness abundant? 

But our text continues to describe that blessedness 
when it declares : ''Verily, I say unto you, that he shall 



90 For Confirmed Youths. 

gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and 
will come forth and serve them.'' The departed 
Christians shall be made to sit down to meat and the 
Lord Himself will minister to their joy, rest and glory. 
Then will true joy and rest begin in all its sweetness 
and perfection. We know that the life of a Christian 
here is one of toil in service. Our joy here is a joy in 
hope and mixed with much patient waiting and tribu- 
lation. Our pilgrimiage is endangered by the tempta- 
tions of sins, and the lusts of the flesh ; our journey is 
obstructed by difificulties without and weaknesses 
within. From all this Christ has delivered her. She 
has entered into her rest, she has been taken from 
battle to victory, from struggle to triumph, from 
weariness to rest, from sorrow to gladness, from hope 
to fruition ! 

Truly, the lines are fallen to her in pleasant places, 
indeed she has a goodly heritage. After a short pil- 
grimage she has been called to the continuing city of 
God ; without feeling the scorching heat of the day in 
this world of toil, she has entered into rest ; without 
shedding the bitterest tears in this vale of tears, she has 
been taken to God's bosom where He shall wipe away 
every tear from her eye and where fullness of joy and 
pleasure are hers forevermore. God grant that we 
may again be impressed with the necessity of watch- 
ing and praying always, so that the Lord may ''find us 
so doing," and that we may also become partakers of 
the inheritance that passeth not away. xA.men. 



;<-. 



FOR YOUNG MEN (17—25 Years) 



XVI. 

TWO REASONS FOR CHEERFULNESS IN 
SUFFERING. 

I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not 
worthy to compare with the glory which shall be revealed 
in us. Rom. 8:18. 

(For a family that has suffered much.) 
Faith makes the Christian, love manifests the Chris- 
tian, affliction tries the Christian. Faith and love are 
approved only then when tried and purified in the oven 
of affliction. Only by sufferings do we become tried, 
settled, unwavering in true godliness. Because this 
is so, therefore God lays the cross on the shoulders of 
all His children, sendino; them manv and manifold 
afflictions. This cross David, the man after the heart 
of God, experienced abundantly ; therefore he says : 
''My sorrow is continually before me,'' and Job, whose 
piety God Himself praises, says : ''O that my grief 
were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the 
balances together; for now it would be heavier than 
the sand of the sea." This rule God invariably ob- 
serves : Those whom He loves, He also chastens. 
According to God's eternal purpose all His children 
must be "conformed to the image of His Son." But 
what image did His Son bear on this earth? He was 
''a man of sorrows and acquainted v/ith grief," so much 



92 For Young Men. 

SO that He was obliged to cry out : ''Innumerable evils 
have compassed me about.'' Since, then, Christ, the 
head, was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, can 
it appear strange, if the Christians, His members, must 
also become acquainted with afflictions? Should we 
regard it something strange if the disciples of Christ 
the Crucified must also bear the cross .^ Surely, if we 
would be the Lord's servants, we must wear the Lord's 
livery. We Christians can not expect to pass through 
this bodily life without the sufiferings of Christ abound- 
ing in us, and wdioevcr is not willing to sufifer with 
Christ, can not be His. This the apostle distinctly de- 
clares in the verse preceding our text, pronouncing us 
"heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be 
that we sufifer with him, that we may be also glorified 
together." If we sufifer with Christ, we shall also be 
glorified with Him ; but if we are not willing to sufifer 
wath Him, we can also not be glorified with Him. 

Now this we Christians know, and after the inner 
man we are ready, yea we count it honor to sufifer with 
Christ; but there is also another man in us, the old 
Adam, and he hates the cross. He is always busy to 
make our afflictions appear so great, so unbearable 
as to discourage us and to persuade us to flee the cross 
of Christ. Because of the weakness of the flesh the 
heart often becomes impatient in afiflictions, but that 
we should exercise ourselves in patience and should 
daily grow therein, this is the wfll of God. Therefore 
the Bible is so full of comforting words for the sufifer- 
ing Christian to teach us patience in hope. The text 
before us points out to us : 



Cheerfulness in Suffering. 93 

TWO REASONS FOR CHEERFL'LXESS IX 
SUFFERLX'GS. 
These are 

1 ) The shortness of our sufferinofs. 

2) The glory which shah be revealed in us. 



The first reason why we Christians, — for the apostle 
is here speaking of the children of God, — should be 
patient in stifTering, he expresses in the vrords : *T 
reckon that the stiiterin gs of tliis present time are not 
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be 
revealed in us." From these words we should first of 
all learn that by otir sufferings in this world we 
do no merit the glory in the world to come. Fre- 
quently people argue that, because they have suf- 
fered so mtich m this world, thc}' mtist be rewarded by 
freedom from suffering in the world to come. In this 
way people make their suff'erkigs the cause of their sal- 
vation and so they deceive themselves ; for it is Christ's 
suffering alone which saves us, and not otir ov\^n. The 
soul which makes its suft'erings its plea before God, 
will not partake of heavenly glory. For the apostle 
does not sav, that the suft'erings of this present time 
are worthy of the glory to be revealed : he says the di- 
rect contrary, that our sufferings are not vrorthy even 
to be compared v^'ith that glory. This is to what Paul 
exhorts, we Christians should regard otir stiff erings in 
this world a small matter in comparison to the glory 
in store for us. 



94 For Young Men. 

To see this clearly we must consider both our suf- 
ferings and the glory to be revealed. How does Paul 
describe our sufferings? He calls them ''sufferings of 
this present time." He describes them as a temporal 
thing lasting for a time only. Our afflictions last for a 
time only, they end with time and therefore are not 
worthy to be compared with the glory of eternity. 
Even so long as we live in this world, suffering does 
not continue always ; *'for the Lord will not cast off 
for ever : but though he cause grief, yet will he have 
compassion according to the multitude of his mercies." 
Storms will come upon all God's children, but the 
Lord has appointed their time and duration ; they blow 
over and the sun will shine again. Therefore David 
says : ''Weeping may endure for a night, but joy com- 
eth in the morning." 

And even though the Christian's afflictions should 
continue all his lifetime without interruption or re- 
spite, nevertheless they remain a temporal thing, end- 
ing in death. Though lasting for eighty years or nine- 
ty years, they have their appointed limit ; for the mo- 
ment the soul departs from the body the Christian's 
sufferings are ended forever. Why then should we 
make so much of the sufferings of this present time? 
They are sufferings in time, for a time. No man is 
likely to suffer more for Christ's sake, than Paul did ; 
yet he here includes himself and represents our, hence 
also his own sufferings, as a small matter, and to the 
Corinthians he writes : "Our light affliction, which is 
but for a moment."' 



Cheerfulness in Suffering-. 95 

11. 

How could Paul esteem so lightly the num- 
berless afflictions, the severe sufferings to which 
he was subjected? It was not because it did not 
hurt him when he was stoned, or smart him when he 
was striped, or torment him when Satan's messenger 
buffeted him ; he had flesh and blood as well as we and 
suffering was painful to him as well as to us ; but why 
he was so cheerful in all his sufferings he tells us when 
writing to the Corinthians : ''We look not at the things 
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen : 
for the things which are seen are temporal ; but the 
things which are not seen are eternal.'" Paul knew 
that he was called to suffer with Christ in this present 
time and thereafter to be glorified with Him ; and he 
looked not at the sufferings surrounding him, but at 
the glory to come, considering that his afflictions were 
temporal and the coming glory is eternal. Such is the 
art which we should learn, in which we should daily 
strive to become more practiced. Not to occupy our 
mind with our afflictions, calculating how heavy they 
are and how long they last, but to have our eye fixed 
on the glory in store for us. In view of that glory we 
will learn to say: What great thing is it if I suffer 
for this present time, since eternal glory shall be mine ; 
the struggle will come to an end, the crown is imper- 
ishable and fadeth not away; the labor is short, the 
rest long; the sorrow brief, the joy without end. 
Wherefore we should cheerfully say with Luther : 
''What is my suffering, though it were ten times great- 
er and heavier than it is, compared with eternal life un- 



96 For Young Men. 

to which I am baptized and called? Surely it is not 
worthy to be accounted suffering in comparison to 
such great glory which shall yet be revealed in me." 

This glory is to be ''revealed in us ;'' it is a thing of 
the future. And yet we shall use it for our present 
comfort. Our troubles which lie upon us now, the 
losses of this moment, this new affliction before our 
eyes right now, is to be a silent admonition to us to 
look up. The faith of Christians deals with future 
events as if they were present realities ; and that is its 
essence. ''Faith is the substance of things hoped for ; 
the evidence of things not seen.'' A Christian has 
what he is going to have, and knows what he is going 
to know. There is no hap-hazard move in all his 
trust. "God has said so ; therefore, it is so !" — that is, 
in a few words, his spiritual basis for his conduct un- 
der any condition of life whatsoever. This ever-present 
conviction of the glory to be revealed caused Luther 
to declare that Christians are for the greater part in 
heaven now, namely, because by faith they have sent 
all their affection ahead to heaven. Wherever this 
faith prevails there can be no lasting sorrow of the 
flesh, and no sorrow whatever of the spirit No cloud of 
sorrow can put out the sun of our future glory. Be- 
yond the darkness of the present the light of eternity 
shines undimmed and gives to our sable sorrows a 
golden background. Amen. 



Renewing or Transforming of the Body. 97 

XVII. 

THE RENEWING OR TRANSFORMING OF 

THE BODY. 

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also 
we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall 
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto 
his glorious body, according to the working whereby he 
is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Phil. 
3:20,21. 

As man is by nature he is not fitted for heaven, the 
fellowship of the angels and the communion of God. 
This fact is clearly demonstrated by the history of our 
first parents ; for when they had sinned, they were ex- 
pelled from the Garden of Eden as no more worthy to 
dwell in paradise and to have communion with God. 
Thereafter the Scriptures tell us that Adam ''begat a 
son in his own likeness, after his image.'' As the father 
was, so was also the son, and because the father was 
unfit for paradise therefore the son, bearing the like- 
ness and image of his father, was also unfit for para- 
dise. The image of sin which Adam bore, was 
stamped on his son and so it continues unto this day. 
If the children of Adam, would have been born inno- 
cent and without sin, justice would have required that 
the Garden of Eden should have been reopened unto 
them ; but because they were born in sins, they were 
excluded from the tree of life as well as their father. 
Therefore, as man is by nature, he is not fit for heaven ; 
and before he can enter there, a change must occur 
with him. The image of sin must be effaced, and th^. 



98 For Young Men. 

imag-e of God must be restored in man, before he can 
be found worthy to dwell with God in one tabernacle. 

For this, indeed, the whole Bible is proof. Because 
a change must occur with m.an before he can have 
communion with God, therefore the prophet preached 
repentance and faith in the promised Redeemer ; there- 
fore John came, baptizing unto the forgiveness of sin ; 
and in unmistakable terms did Christ bear witness to 
the same when he said to Nicodemus : "Except a man 
be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God ;'' 
and to the disciples He said : ''Verily, I say unto you, 
Except ye be converted, and become as little children, 
3^e shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Man 
born into this v\^orld must be born again, he must be 
changed from his natural estate into another estate 
before he is fitted for heaven. 

Now man consists of the two parts, soul and body, 
and both in soul and body he must be renewed. The 
soul is renewed by the birth out ''of water and of the 
Spirit'^ and this renewing is continued by the sancti- 
fication of the Spirit, and when the soul so renewed de- 
parts from the body it forthwith is made perfect and 
comes to God. But the body must also be renewed ; 
for "flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom of 
God.'' This mortal body m.ust undergo a change be- 
fore it is fit for heaven. How the body is changed the 
Lord tells us in the 12th chapter of John, saying: 
"Verily, verily, I say unto you. Except a corn of wheat 
fall into the ground'and die, it abideth alone: but if it 
die, it bringeth forth much fruit.'' The body must de- 
cay and must rise again^ transformed from the image 



Renewing or Transforming of the Body. 99 

of sin, then only is it fit for heaven. Of this transfor- 
mation of our bodies the apostle speaks in our text. 
To this transformation I would direct your spirits 
in this hour of sadness. We are about to consign to 
the abode of corruption a young Christian, who has 
been cut ofif in the beauty and vigor of early manhood. 
This beautiful handiwork of our Creator which death 
has disfigured, God shall, for Jesus' sake, refashion in- 
to a far more glorious body ; and the place to which 
we are carrying this cold corpse, and which will to- 
day be the scene of great distress, shall on the last day 
become the scene of a great miracle. Allow me, 
therefore, to speak of 

THE RENEWING OR TRANSFORMING OF 

TFIE BODY. 
Showing 

i) When and how it will take place, and 

2) How man is prepared for it. 

I. 

The apostle in our text says : ''For our conversa- 
tion is in heaven; from whence also we look for the 
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ : who shall change our 
vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glori- 
ous body, according to the working whereby he is able 
even to subdue all things unto himself.'' The simple 
truth which the apostle here reveals to us is this : The 
bodies of those who, while on earth, have had their 
conversation in heaven, will be glorified. At His ap- 
pearing the Lord v/ill awaken them out of the dust of 
the earth and, transforming them, will make them like 



loo For Young Mell. 

unto His glorified body. Surely a great, a grand pros- 
pect set before us Christians, which is well worthy of 
our consideration. 

The time when this change will take place, is the 
Lord's final coming. When the heavens will be rolled 
up like a scroll, when the earth and all that therein 
is will be burned up, when death will deliver up its 
victims, when all things save alone the Word of the 
Lord will be changed, then will also our bodies be 
changed. This time for the change the apostle fixe? 
very explicitly i Cor. 15, writing: 'The trumpet shall 
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and 
we shall be changed." When the Lord will appear 
unto judgment then both the bodies of those asleep in 
Jesus will arise glorified and the bodies of the saints 
yet living on the earth will be changed. 

So, that which shall be changed is ''our body." 
We must not so construe the word change as though 
this body which we now have should be destroyed 
and another body different from this would be given 
us. But this same body which we now have will be 
altered ; it will receive new qualities, new attributes, it 
will enter on a new mode and manner of existence, 
but it will be the same body. That in the resurrection 
we shall not receive a new or different body, but that 
this same body shall rise again, the Scriptures clearly 
testify ; for so Job says : 'Though after my skin worms 
destro}^ this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God : 
whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall be- 
hold, and not another." Job declared, in the body 
with which he sat in the ashes and which he scraped 



Renewing- Or Transforming of the Body. lOl 

with a potsherd he would see God. The same is 
demonstrated by a clear example at the crucifixion of 
Christ; for when Jesus expired on the cross ''the 
graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints 
w^hich slept arose, and came out of the graves after 
his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and ap- 
peared unto many/' Those same bodies which had 
been bedded in the graves rose again. Neither can it 
be another than the same body, because justice re- 
quires this ; for St. Paul writes : ''We must all appear 
before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone 
may receive the things done in his body, according 
to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.'^ 
That same body which has sinned, shall suffer punish- 
ment; and that same body which on earth suffered 
for Christ's sake shall be rew^arded. This is the re- 
quirement of justice. Therefore not another, but the 
same body which vv^e now have, shall rise again. 

This body the apostle here describes by adding an 
adjective: "Who shall change our vile body.'^ He 
describes the, body in its present condition as a vile 
thing. The human body is, indeed, one of God's 
most glorious creatures; it is "fearfully and wonder- 
fully made,'' but sin makes it vile. It must be clothed 
and cleansed, and is subject to manifold weaknesses 
and repulsive diseases; yea, often does the body of 
man become so odious an object that others shud- 
der to touch it or even to look upon it. The body of 
king Herod while yet living became so pestiferous a 
thing that no one could bear to remain near him. 
People make much of the body; they indulge and 



102 For Young Men. 

adorn it, but finally it decays and is eaten by the 
worms. But the vilest of all is that the body is full 
of low and vile lusts, so that Paul writes concerning 
carnal desires: "I keep under my body, and bring it 
into subjection.'' The sensual lusts which are excited 
in the body even of those led by the Spirit, are so 
many and great that they must be kept under with a 
strong hand. 

This our vile body Christ will so change ^'that it 
may be fashioned like imto his glorious body." These 
are short w^ords, but they comprise much. Our bodies 
will be changed into the image of Christ's glorious 
body. How will our bodies then be? Oh, for realiz- 
ing this! Bvit while we are in this present vile es- 
tate it is beyond our comprehension. Yet the Scrip- 
tures tell us some things about it, how our bodies 
will then be. Here the apostle limits the glory of 
our bodies; for he says that they shall be fashioned 
like unto Christ's glorious body and he does not say 
that they shall be equal to Christ's body. Christ's 
body was received into unity with the God-head and 
therefore it w^as glorified with divine glory, as He 
prayed the Father: ''Glorify thou me with thine own 
self, with the glory w^hich I had with thee before the 
world was." Christ's body received divine glory and 
divine attributes, as omnipotence, omnipresence, and 
the like. Our bodies will not receive divine glory 
and divine attributes so that they would be equal to 
Christ's body; His glory will be infinitely greater than 
ours, yet shall our bodies be like unto His glorified 
body, as again He says to the Father : ''All mine are 



Renewing or Transforming of the Body. 103 

thine, and thine are mine ; and I am glorified in them/' 
We will be glorified not with a glory which is of us, 
but with a borrowed glory, even with Christ's glory; 
His glory will shine in and through us. We will 
stand dressed in Christ's glory and therefore our 
bodies will be- like unto His glorious body. 

What qualities and attributes our bodies will then 
possess we can to some extent gather from the quali- 
ties and attributes of Christ's body in His state of 
exaltation. Now Christ, after His resurrection, 
though He did once eat food to convince the disciples 
of His identity, needed neither food nor drink. Our 
bodies will need neither food nor drink, we being like 
the angels, as the Lord said to the Sadducees: ''In 
the resurrection they neither marr}^, nor are given in 
marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." 
After his resurrection the form of sinful flesh was 
taken from Christ's body. Our bodies will be with-^ 
out sin. In this life this vile body is continually drawn 
hither and thither by evil affections and sinful emo- 
tions, but in our glorified bodies sin will be no more. 
Hence our glorified body will no' more be subject 
to fatigue, weakness, pain or death; for these things 
are the result and wages of sin, and when sin is 
purged out, then must follow what St. Paul says: 
'This corruptible m.ust put on incorruption, and this 
mortal must put on immortality," even as the Book 
of Revelation testifies: "God shall wipe away ail tears 
from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, 
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any 
more pain: for the former things are passed away." 



104 For Young- Men. 

When Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, ''his 
face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white 
as the Hght.'^ Our bodies shall be similar; for of the 
time of our glorification the Lord says: 'Then shall 
the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom 
of their Father,-' and unto Daniel it was said: 'They 
that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the fir- 
mament; and they that turn many to righteousness 
as the stars for ever and ever.'' With His glorified 
body the Lord passed through rocks and walls and 
ascended up through the air. When glorified our 
bodies will no more be so clumsy as they now are; 
they will be quick as the light and will know no hin- 
drances; for St. Paul writes: "It is sown a natural 
body; it is raised a spiritual body,'' and at another 
place he says: "The dead in Christ shall rise first: 
then we which are ^dive and remain shall be caught 
up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord 
in the air." Oh, imagine this our body relieved of 
its sinfulness and cumbrousness, and celestial glory 
shining in it, rushing like a flash of light through the 
firmament to join the company of the elect at Christ's 
right hand! Let the great of this earth wear golden 
crowns and load their bodies with silks and satins: 
the world passeth away and the glory thereof. We 
look for another glory, the changing of this vile body, 
whereby it will be made worthy to dwell with God and 
the Lamb in one tabernacle. 

And this mighty change will come about sudden- 
ly; for St. Paul writes to the Corinthians: "We shall 
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a mo- 



ftenewing or Transforming- of the Body. 105 

mentj in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump." 
When the trump of God will sound, the bodies of the 
sleeping saints will suddenly start up from their 
graves, and the bodies of the believers yet living will 
begin to shine with heavenly brightness. Then will 
the burying-grounds of the Christians rival in glory 
the fields of Bethlehem in the night of the Lord's 
birth when the glory of the Lord illumined the dark- 
ness. 

Here carnal reason will wag its head and say: How 
can this thing be? how can a body mouldered to 
dust centuries ago suddenly shine like a star? We 
Christians are not guided by reason, but by the Word 
of the Lord, and here is the Lord's word that He will 
do it "according to the working whereby he is able 
even to subdue all things unto himself.'^ It will not 
take Him long, neither will it cost Him great exer- 
tion to transform our bodies. He who rose from the 
dead and glorified His own body, is plentifully able 
to transform our bodies, and every one who will deny 
the glorious resurrection of the sleeping saints, there- 
by gives testimony against himself that he does not 
truly believe the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the 
dead; for so Paul concludes and says: ''If we believe 
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also 
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." Since 
Jesus rose from the dead, it necessarily follows that 
those who have fallen asleep in Jesus must also rise 
again; and as He rose in glory, they must also rise 
in glory. Now we know that Jesus is not dead, that 
He lives and reigns. Therefore, although we see 



106 t'or Young Men. 

that our bodies grow old and feeble; although we 
know that in death the body becomes so vile a thing, 
that it must be hid away under the ground out of 
the sight of men; yet knowing that our Jesus lives, 
we cheerfully say with the apostle John when he 
writes: ''Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it 
doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know- 
that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him: for 
we shall see him as he is." As many of us as are led 
by the Spirit, are even now the children of God; and 
though it is now not visible in us, yet the time will 
and must come when we will also be manifested be- 
fore heaven and earth as the children of God. 

II. 

But these w^ords remind us that the changing of 
our bodies at the coming of Christ is only the final 
consummation of that great work which must begin 
already in this life, the restoration of man. If our 
bodies are to be changed into the image of Christ's 
glorious body, our hearts must have been changed 
before wx die. On this allow me but a few sentences 
only. 

When the trump of God will resound, land and sea 
will become alive with people; for the millions buried 
by the flood and the myriads that have lived since, 
will all come forth from their graves, but the great 
multitude of them will bear the image of Satan, and 
only a very small remnant comparatively will shine 
in the image of Christ's glory. Who will be with this 
glorious company? Not those of whom St. Paul here 
writes: ''Many w^alk, of whom I have told vou often, 



RenewiPxg or Transforming" of the Body. 107 

and now tell you even weeping, that they are the ene- 
mies of the cross of Christ : whose end is destruction, 
whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their 
shame, who mind earthly things." All those who 
hate the truth of God, all those to whom the friend- 
ship of men and worldly advantages are dearer than 
Christ crucified: all those w^ho make the belly their 
god, walking in the lusts of the flesh and following 
carnal enjoyments; all those who glory in things 
which bring honor before men, but are a shame be- 
fore God; all those whose hearts are set on earthly 
things; all these will also come forth out of their 
graves, but they will come forth bearing the image 
of Satan. Woe will be unto the w^orld on that great 
day. All the enemies of Christ, all the seekers after 
carnal enjoyments, all the proud, all the earthly 
minded — their portion will be in the lake burning 
with fire and brimstone. 

But from these will be separated a glorious com- 
pany, even they who bore the cross of Christ on earth, 
hated and despised of men, because their conversa- 
tion is not earthly and does not suit the world ; the 
company of those who 'look for the Savior, the Lord 
Jesus Christ.'^ Looking to Jesus is the beginning, 
looking for Jesus is the continuation of our restora- 
tion which is consummated by the changing of our 
bodies. We are vile both in body and soul, but look 
to Jesus; He cleanses from sin, He clothes the. soul 
with righteousness. Look to Him as your Savior and 
your soul shall live. Look not downward, the earth 
will pass away; look upward, there Jesus will appear. 



108 For Young Men. 

Look fo Jesus hanging on the cross, the sacrifice for 
your sin; look to Him, rising from the dead, bring- 
ing you justification from sin; look to Him for grace 
and strength to keep under the affections of the body. 
If you so look to Him, your heart will soon begin to 
look for Him, forward to the grave, that quiet bed- 
chamber where this vile body shall rest until Christ 
will wake it and will change it and fashion it like unto 
His glorious body. Amen. 



XVHL 

WHY IT IS NOT STRANGE THAT CHRIS- 
TIANS SHOULD SUFFER. 

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial 
which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened 
unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of 
Christ's sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, 
ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 1 Pet. 4:12, 13. 

It would seem as if ascribing our misfortunes to 
God as their author would only make greater the 
pain which we experience in consequence of them. 
When everything goes against us, there remains, at 
least, this comfort: ^'God is for me.'^ If, then, God is 
also represented as being against us, what comfort is 
there left for us? 

You, my beloved mourners, have within the last 
years undergone a series of trials of the most pain- 
ful character. Death has darkened your door for the 
third time during this year, and has this time carried 
off your oldest son in the bloom of young manhood. 



Christian Suffering not Strange. 109 

You have incurred serious material losses during a 
conflagration, and it is not unknown to us that 
through your connection with our congregation you 
have had to make financial sacrifices in your business. 
Unhappiness seems to have been caused you chiefly 
through your Christian endeavors. Just this son of 
yours, w^hom we shall bury to-day, had been the first 
member of your family, with whom we became ac- 
quainted, and he it was that persuaded you to join 
our Church in spite of all drawbacks which others 
pointed out to you as counseling against such a step. 
And now he, too, has been taken from you. You 
are being rebuked for ever having joined this church, 
and your troubles are made to appear as the natural 
result of your folly. Your own heart is faint and can 
find no solution of your strange perplexities. 

I desire to show you, in a general way, what con- 
nection there exists between the trials of Christians 
and their faith, and shall ask you to apply all to your 
present bereavement, which, I am quite certain, God 
has intended also as a trial of your faith. At the end 
of the chapter from which our text has been taken, 
St. Peter sums up his entire teaching regarding the 
sufifering of the righteous in this life, in these words : 
''Let them that suffer according to the will of God 
commit the keeping of their souls to him in wdl do- 
ing, as unto a faithful Creator.'^ To this God, whom 
your flesh would imagine your enemy, I now wish to 
point you as to your compassionate and wise friend, 
and to show vou : 



110 For Young Men. 

Why it is not strange that Christians should suffer. 

i) Because their sufferings are necessary for their 
spiritual growth ; 

2) Because their sufferings conform them to Christ. 

1. 

When St. Peter says: ''Wherefore let them that suf- 
fer according to the will of God commit the keeping 
of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful 
Creator;" he means to say: God is a creator not of 
evil, but of good works. ''What God does, ever well 
is done.'' God cannot do anything evil, neither can 
He do anything which would be harmful or unwise. 
What God does, He begins with prudence, and He 
continues it with wisdom, and finally He will bring it 
to a glad end. What God does, is not only right, 
but it is always done well and wisely. Therefore, says 
the apostle, when suffering befalls us, this should not 
disturb our minds, but we should commit it to God, 
knowing this that God has long since considered well 
how many and what kind of sufferings are needful 
and beneficial to us, and has wisely ordained it so. 

Of this Peter here treats more extensively. He 
says: "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the 
fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange 
thing happened unto you.'' If we Christians must 
endure afflictions, especially if we must experience 
many unpleasant things for the sake of Christ and His 
truth, we are not to regard this as a strange thing, or 
something unexpected. New beginners in the faith 
frequently think that now, having become the chil- 



Christian Suffering not Strange. Ill 

dren of God, they should be bedded on roses, and it 
appears to them a strange thing, when they find they 
must also be pricked by thorns. We are not to be 
such children in knowledge, but we are to know that 
whoso would have the rose, must also endure the 
thorns surrounding it. It is not something strange 
that those who are partakers with Chrjst, must also 
be partakers of the cross of Christ. If you gird your 
loins to be a follower of Jesus Christ, you must ex- 
pect to fare similarly in the world as He did, and He 
had to enter into His glory through many sufferings. 
What is God's object in burdening His Christians 
with the cross? Why, to try them, as Peter says: 
'The fiery trial which is to try you." God'S object is 
to make the faith of His children sound and strong, 
and for this purpose it must be tried. And when the 
apostle says ''fiery trial,'' he would evidently compare 
the trying of faith by afflictions and temptations with 
the trying of metal in the fire, as he also writes in the 
first chapter of this Epistle: "For a season, if need be, 
ye are in heaviness • through manifold temptations : 
that the trial of your faith, being much more precious 
than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with 
fire, might be found unto praise.'' Gold, if not alto- 
gether pure, is cast into the fire, and by smelting the 
baser metals are separated from it. Even so God will 
cast faith into the furnace of afflictions and tempta- 
tions, that hereby its faults and weaknesses be made 
manifest and may be healed. If, for instance, a man's 
trust does, indeed, stand in God, but perhaps un- 
known to himself he places undue confidence in his 



112 For Young Men. 

health, strength and abiHty to work, God will per- 
haps permit that man to be stretched on a bed of sick- 
ness, that this ailing of his faith be manifested unto 
him and he be taught to put his trust more freely in 
the Lord. Or if a Christian yet prizes the friendship 
of the world too highly; God will perhaps suffer that 
man to be severely mocked and ill-treated for his 
piety; and God's object is to teach him henceforth no 
more to sit where the scofifers sit. So God imposes 
trials on faith to purify it from impure elements, faults 
and weaknesses, and thereby faith is at the same time 
also strengthened. A father who wants his boy to 
become a healthy and strong man, will not have that 
boy continually lounging around on a soft cushion, 
he will be diligent to try and to exercise his strength. 
A boy reared too delicately will remain delicate; to 
develop into a stout man, his muscles and energies 
must be exercised. God does not want His Chris- 
tians to remain infants in the faith, He wants us to 
grow to the full stature of men, and therefore He 
causes our faith to be tried often, and frequently also 
to be exercised in fiery trials that it should become 
sturdy and strong. Such trials are, of course, not 
pleasant, while they last, but they are wholesome and 
good. 

II. 

Therefore, we should. do what the apostle further 
says: "But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of 
Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be re- 
vealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.'' 
The cross of Christ we are to regard as an honor and 



Christian Suffering not Strang^. Il3 

not as a strange and shameful thing. If we must 
suffer with Christ, we should do it willingly and not 
unwillingly, with gladness and not with sadness. Of 
the Pharisees' fasting the Lord says in the sermon on 
the mount: ''When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, 
of a sad countenance : for they disfigure their faces, 
that they may appear unto men to fast.'' To those 
hypocrites fasting was a hard piece of work to which, 
in their hearts, they were much averse. But His dis- 
ciples the Lord commanded: ''But thou, when thou 
fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face.'' The 
Lord desired His disciples to wear a bright face when 
fasting. The Lord is not served by making a wry 
face and wearing a sour visage; He delights in being 
worshiped with gladness. The Lord does not want 
such people as bear the cross with grumbling and 
are continually washing to be rid of it; He wants such 
people as regard it a joy and an honor to be counted 
worthy to suffer for their Lord's sake. We should 
not only rejoice in the Lord, when everything moves 
on smoothly, but also in the evil day, when fiery trials 
are upon us, should our soul be joyous in the Lord. 
Surely something in which there is room for every 
one of us yet to grow. Two things the apostle holds 
up to us to persuade us thereto : The partnership with 
Christ, and the coming joy. By suffering for Christ's 
sake WQ. are made partakers of Christ's sufferings. In 
the days of His flesh all manner of reproaches and 
evils were heaped on the head of Jesus Christ by the 
world, and if for His name's sake we must, in a small 
measure, experience the same, this is not a reason for 



114 For Young Men. 

sadness, but rather a reason for g"ladness; it is not 
something dishonorable, but something- very honor- 
able if we are thus made partakers of Christ's suffer- 
ings. And if we are partakers of His sufferings, He 
will not leave us in misery, He will surely indemnify 
us in the day of His glory, and will make us to "be 
glad also with exceeding joy.'' Amen. 



FOR YOUNG WOMEN (17—25 Years). 

XIX. 
THE BRIDEGROOM CAME. 

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and 
they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: 
and the door was shut. Matt. 25:10. 

If ever there is a time when a man can plainly 
see how sorely he needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 
which alone can give him true peace and rest and 
comfort, it is the time in which death approaches him 
or calls away one of those who are near and dear 
to him. 

As long as a man enjoys good health, is not trou- 
bled with sickness or pain, he may think he has no 
need of the Gospel, but can get along without it; he 
may think that he needs no divine revelation, but 
that the light of his reason will suffice to show him 
the way to happiness; he may think that he needs no 
Savior, no Redeemer, but that his own virtues, good 
works, and sincere efforts to do right will save him. 
But when evil days come, days of sorrow and sick- 
ness and distress ; when they who were near and dear 
to him depart this life; when his heart becomes cheer- 
less and joyless and comfortless; when he sees that 
all earthly things are vanity and that even ^'man at 
his best state is altogether vanity'': then, often his 
eyes are opened, and he sees that without the Gospel 



116 For Young Women. 

of Jesus Christ this life is like a dark night without a 
star of hope, or like a vast desert without a single 
fountain of refreshing water. 

What would, what could, support you, my mourn- 
ing friends, in your bereavement but the stay and 
staff of the Gospel on which you lean? What an im- 
penetrable darkness would envelope you, if the day- 
star from on high, Jesus Christ, did not shine in your 
hearts? How comfortless would you be, if you could 
not receive divine comfort — comfort from the pre- 
cious word of God? Ay, how deplorable would be 
the state of us all, if we had not the Gospel of Jesus 
Christ, the word of our God, for our support! We 
are now gathered around the coffin of one who was 
near and dear to us, who had the welfare of this con- 
gregation at heart, who took an active interest in all 
its affairs, who was a faithful teacher in its Sunday- 
School, but who now has passed away to be with us 
here no more. What David said of Jonathan, we may 
here apply: ''We are distressed for thee, O daughter, 
O sister; very pleasant hast thou been unto us.-' 
Though in the prime of life, like a beautiful rose just 
beginning to unfold its leaves, yet she was cut down 
by that merciless reaper death. Why did she have to 
pass away so early in life? Why do so many roses 
wither, and so many thorns and thistles thrive? Why 
are so many blooming trees uprooted, and so many 
dead and barren ones left standing? 

Had we not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we could 
give no comforting answer to such and similar ques- 
tions. The Gospel, however, the Word of God, tells 



The Bridegroom Came. 117 

US that, when a beheving virgin is called hence, she 
is called by Christ, the heavenly Bridegroom, into the 
bridal chamber of heaven; for thus we read in our 
text: 'The bridegroom came, and they that were 
ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door 
was shut/' Of the comfort and admonition contained 
in this word of God let me now speak to you. 

I. 

It is very sad, my friends, to see a maiden, young 
and fair, lie cold and stiff and stark in death. Then 
our tears flow m.ore freely than usual, for we think 
she has passed away too soon. Death, then, does not 
seem to us a messenger of peace, who relieves the 
weary and heavy laden of a burden, but as a destroy- 
er, who kills the rising plant. And the more pious 
and godly the departed was, the greater seems to be 
the cause for sorrow and lamentation. 

But lo, what a mistake! He who dies a believer 
never dies too soon, even though he dies in infancy. 
If a virgin belongs not to the foolish virgins, who fol- 
low the world and love not the heavenly Bridegroom, 
but to the wise virgins who by faith are espoused to 
Christ, she has fulfilled her mission on earth. 

When such a virgin dies it is not a sad hour, but 
the happiest hour of her whole life. Her death is the 
messenger, who summons her to the marriage of her 
heavenl}^ Bridegroom; her grave is, as it were, the 
portal to the heavenly bridal chamber; and her grave- 
clothes are, so to speak, her heavenly wedding gar- 
ment. She is then crowned with the wreath of im- 
mortality; her faith is changed into sight; her Bride- 



118 For Young Women. 

groom is ever at her side; and she is in the house of 
many mansions, where angels and archangels, cher- 
ubim and seraphim are the guests of the Lamb and 
she then becomes His bride at the heavenly mar- 
riage-supper. 

O you, therefore, who mourn the departure of your 
loved one, weep not! You know the departed be- 
longed not to the foolish virgins but to the wise. 
Baptized in her infancy she put on her Savior, for ''as 
many as have been baptized into Christ have put on 
Christ.'^ Advancing in years she desired the sincere 
milk of the Word that she might grow thereby. 
Having been duly instructed in the Word of God, 
she professed a good profession before many wit- 
nesses and was confirmed in the faith. How did she 
rejoice to read and hear of her Savior! How did she 
long to tell her class of Him ! The worst weather could 
not keep her from church and Sunday School. Even 
when scarcely able she would continue to teach her 
class in the Sunday School. You can see from all 
this, what love she had for her Savior. And to this 
Savior she has now gone, to be with him forever. Oh, 
why should you mourn, why should you lament? 
Verily, ''the lines have fallen unto her in pleasant 
places.'^ She was ready, ready to depart; ay, she 
longed to be absent from the body and to be present 
with the Lord.'^ Remember, how repent ingly she 
confessed her sins and in true faith relied upon the 
words of absolution. Remember, how eagerly she 
received the body and blood of her Savior in Holy 
Communion, and how greatly her weary soul was 



The Bridegroom Came. 119 

refreshed thereby. And oh! remember those com- 
forting words she uttered but the evening before her 
departure : "Perhaps Jesus will call me to-night." Ah, 
indeed, hers is a happy lot. She suffered here below^ 
but she reigns above; she sighed and wept here on 
earth, but she rejoices and triumphs there in heaven. 
Hence weep not! Angels have carried her into Ab- 
raham's bosom and she is forever happy and blessed. 

11. 

But, my friends, the words of our text contain also 
an admonition for us all. You young people, who 
perhaps think of nothing so little as of death, who are 
making great plans for the future, are you ready to 
depart, ready as the wise virgins in our text were, 
ready as the dear departed was? The coffin before 
us reminds us of the words of the Psalmist: "Man's 
days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flour- 
isheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, 
and the place thereof shall know it no more.'' This 
coffin illustrates the truth of the words of the 
Preacher: "Childhood and youth are vanity. Vanity 
of vanities, all is vanity." This coffin corroborates 
the words of the apostle: "Here we have no contin- 
uing city," and: "It is appointed unto men once to 
die." Ay, 

Who knows how near my end may be? 
Time speeds away and death comes on? 
How swiftly, ah, how suddenly 
May death be here and life be gone! 



120 For Young Women. 

Do you believe this? Do you think of this? Oh, 
do, for ''ye know neither the day nor the hour where- 
in the Son of man cometh/' Therefore 

''Let all your lamps be bright 
And trim the golden flame! 
Gird up your loins, as in His sight. 
For awful is His name. 

"Watch! 'tis your Lord's command. 
And while we speak He's near, 
Mark the first signal of His hand 
And ready all appear. 

"Oh happy servant he 

In such a posture found! ^' 

He shall his Lord with rapture see 

And be with honor crowned.'' 

And we, the members of this congregation, the 
Sunday-School teachers, and the members of our 
Young People's Society, can all learn a great lesson 
from the departed, namely, to be faithful in our work, 
to do it gladly and cheerfully. You well know what 
an interest, a zeal, what a faithfulness, the de- 
parted manifested in all our church work; how she 
tried and tried hard, to do what was in her power 
to further the welfare of our congregation. Oh! let 
us follow her example and "work while it is day, be- 
fore the night cometh when no man can work.'^ Above 
all, however, let us remain steadfast in the faith as 
she was. Though frequently tempted to doubt or 
even to deny plain Scripture truths, such as the fall 
from grace, infant baptism, or that Baptism is the 



The Bridegroom Came. 121 

"washing of regeneration" as Paul calls it, yet she 
clung to the Word, kept the faith, remained true to 
her church, did not become a backslider, and now 
has received the crown of righteousness, which the 
Lord, the righteous judge, had laid up for her in 
heaven. 

And you, children of our Sunday-School, and par- 
ticularly, the scholars of her class, remember your 
dear teacher who has spoken unto you the words of 
Hfe. It is just about a year ago this week that she 
began to practice hymns with you for Christmas and 
taught you ''the old, old story of Jesus and his love," 
how he was born at Bethlehem, how the angel of, the 
Lord appeared unto the shepherds saying: 'Tear not, 
for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy 
which shall be to all people. For unto you is born 
this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ, 
the Lord;'' how the multitude of the heavenly hosts 
appeared and sang: "Glory to God in the highest, and 
an earth peace, good will towards men.'' See, this 
year she will not celebrate Christmas with you here 
on earth, but she will celebrate a far happier Christ- 
mas in heaven. There will she see, ay, is even now 
seeing, * her Savior face to face, and singing his 
praises with all the angels and the dear little children 
that are gathered around his throne. But though 
your teacher is gone, still He of whom she spoke to 
you, Jesus, the Savior, is with you. Oh, trust Him, 
love Him, and obey Him, and then you, too, one day 
shall see Him face to face and meet her again who 
spoke to you of PJiiii, 



122 For Young- Women. 

And finally you, mourning relatives, also to you do 
those silent lips before us speak.. And that 'which 
they say to you is: ''Love one another.'' .See, your 
ranks are thinned, your number is decreased, your 
relationship is smaller, oh, therefore cling to one an- 
other so miuch more firmly and love one another so 
much more fervently. ''Be ye kind to one another, 
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God 
for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Let the death 
of your sister and daughter vmite your hearts so 
much more closely, so that hand in hand you may 
journey to the heavenly home, where we all hope to 
meet her again "clothed in white robes and bearing 
palm branches in her hands." Yea, may God grant 
us all that when our last moment approaches we, too, 
may fall asleep in the true knowledge of our Lord and 
Savior Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and the 
life, who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the 
Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. 

XX. 
THE LORD^S HANDMAIDEN. 

He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, 
behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me 
blessed. Luke 1:48. 

"He hath regarded the low estate of' His hand- 
maiden." These, you remember, are the w^ords of 
Mar}^, the mother of our Lord. They are filled with 
the deepest humility and the most joyous exaltation, 
and are at once a testimonial of her faith and her joy 
in God, 



The Lord's Handmaiden. 123 

What an honor was hers. Well might God's mes- 
senger say to her: ^Thou art highly favored, the 
Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women/' 
for she had indeed found favor with God. Ah yes, 
her words have been fulfilled, for all generations did 
indeed call her blessed. 

And still notice her humility. ^'He hath regarded 
the low estate of his handmaiden.*' Do you find any- 
thing there to warrant the idolatrous homage paid to 
her name by the poor, misled people of the Church 
of Rome? Anything which would warrant the as- 
sumption, that she was not flesh, born of the flesh, a 
sinner, like as we? Do you find anything here to 
hinder us from putting these her words upon the lips 
of any lowly handmaiden of Christ? Is there any- 
thing here to prevent, let us say, this bride of the 
Lamb from saying with Mary: ''He hath regarded 
the low estate of his handmaiden,'' and thus adopting 
Mary's testimonial of her lowliness and God's exal- 
tation of it to be her own "magnificat?" Verily, no. 
Let us therefore listen to this song of praise as though 
it came from the lips, now mute in death, of this 
handmaiden of our Lord. 

L 

Notice, first, her humility. Mary here applies a 
name to herself which in this age of ours is shunned 
as carrying a stigma with it. She calls herself a 
servant: It is a mark of the false education and false 
ideals of our time, that the idea of going out to serv- 
ice is so utterly repugnant to many of our young peo- 
ple. The position of a servant is considered menial 



124 For ^oung Wometi. 

and debasing. The average shop-girl imagines that 
she occupies a higher position in the social scale 
(whatever that may be) than her friend who chooses 
to be a servant in some Christian household. A false 
pride, a fear of restraint, a false conception of per- 
sonal liberty is, no doubt, the root of this sentiment. 

It is certainly not Scriptural, as every Lutheran 
knows or should know by studying the table of 
duties in his Catechism. And surely none of us ought 
to hesitate to wear a name borne by the queen of 
womankind. Suffice it therefore to say, Mary calls 
herself a handmaiden, a servant. 

She speaks of her ''low estate." She is speak- 
ing, not of her character, but of her condition. Some 
commentators give Gideon's words as a parallel: 
''Behold my family is poor in Manasseh and I am the 
least in my father's house.'' This is the sense of her 
words : my family is poor in Judah and I am the least 
in my father's house, a poor, lowly handmaiden of no 
repute and fame. Luther in this connection says, we 
may well believe that her parents were poor, plain 
people, and that she, in all probability, was early left 
an orphan. — There is much in her life besides this 
statement of our text which might be aduced to 
justify such an inference. 

Now, my friends, I have selected this text and 
showed you the virgin's lowly estate, not because I 
feel that the character or circumstances of the de- 
ceased need any apology or defense. Those who best 
knew her, will bear me out in saying, that both as 
a quiet, humble Christian and a faithful member of 



The Lord's Handmaideti. 12§ 

the family in which she dwelt, she needs no encomium 
from me. Her simple, unobtrusive piety, her faith- 
ful service, her realization of the truth, so little un- 
derstood nowadays, that every servant serves not 
man, but Christ, is best attested by the tears of the 
many friends who mourn her early death. 

But I do wish to draw your attention to a truth 
pointed out by her life and character and that is this: 
''God exalteth them of low degree." 

II. 

This is an ambitious age. We seem to have lost 
all appreciation of quiet, home virtue. We wish to do 
great things, to be artists, poets, philosophers. Quiet, 
everyday, home-made Christianity no longer suffices 
us. We must do great things, build a hospital, en- 
dow a university, organize a ''movement.'' — We must 
be seen and praised of men. We seem to have ut- 
terly forgotten the truth expressed in these words of 
our text: "He hath regarded the low estate of his 
handmaiden,'^ the truth that "God resisteth the proud, 
and giveth grace to the humble,'' that the lowly es- 
tate of the handmaiden Mary found more favor in 
His sight than the ostentatious service of Caiaphas' 
daughter. 

We put our mathematical, dollars-and-cents, meth- 
od of calculation into service at all times and places, 
and therefore imagine that God is to judge us ac- 
cording to the magnitude of our services, the extent 
of our gifts, just as if you could not put as much love 
into the giving of a cup of cold water as into the 
founding of an asylum. How foolish ! 



126 F'or Young Women. 

Listen to Luther on our text. ''Now," says he, 
"here is depicted and shown to us what is the man- 
ner of our God; namely, that He looks down. He 
cannot look up over Himself, for there is none above 
Him; He cannot look beside Himself for He hath 
none beside Him to equal Him; therefore He only 
looks downward. And so the deeper you are and the 
lower you are, the clearer do God's eyes rest upon 
you.'' 

Luther certainly does not mean that the deeper 
and lower you are in the mire of sin, the clearer you 
are seen of God. If that were the case, the path 
to God's favor would be unrighteousness and ini- 
quity. He means the deeper and lower you are in 
your own estimation, the deeper your contrition and 
self-abasement because of your sins, the nearer you 
are to God's favor. For ''God giveth grace to the 
humble.-' "He putteth down the mighty from their 
seats and exalted them of low degree.'' He does this 
outwardly in the working of His providence, even as 
He regarded the low^ estate of Mary rather than the 
vv^ealth and pride of some king's daughter, but par- 
ticularly in His kingdom of grace. When it comes to 
a dispensation of His spiritual honors and riches He 
chooses not the wise men after the flesh, not the 
mighty or the noble, but the foolish, weak, and des- 
pised things of this w^orld. He fills the hungry, they 
who hunger and thirst after righteousness, with good 
things, and sends them who are rich in self, rich in 
their own conceits, away empty of Christ. In His 
kingdom of grace God always works with broken 



Why Weepest Thou? 121 

tools and confers His highest honors upon those who, 
in our opinion, least deserve them. Verily, God's 
ways are not man's ways. 

May we not, knowing this to be true, confidently 
hope that our good and gracious Lord has also looked 
with lovingkindness upon the lowly estate of this His 
handmaiden, aye, may not He, who preferred the 
widow's mite to the Pharisee's treasures, also find a 
like praise for her faithful loving service in His 
name? Ah, my friends, when we enter our eternal 
home, I fear we shall find many of Christ's little ones 
set in places above those whom men honored and 
adored as saints. We shall find many names, not 
written in our calendars, emblazoned with letters of 
gold in God's eternal roll of honor. Let us therefore 
pray God, here at the grave of one of His "little ones'^ 
to help us by her life and death understand these 
words, ''He hath regarded the low estate of his hand- 
maiden." Thus, being dead, she may yet speak. 

Let us, thanking for all that He has done for her, 
be moved to like true humility, so that we also may 
ever remain of low estate in His kingdom. Then 
will our Lord also regard our low estate when His 
time comes and m.ake His strength perfect in our 
weakness. Amen. 

XXL 
WHY WEEPEST THOU? 

Why weepest thou? John 20:15, 16. 
The morning of the first Easter Day had scarcely 
dawned, when three women, Mary Magdalene, Mary, 



128 For Young Women. 

the mother of James, and Salome hastened to the 
grave of Jesus, in order to anoint his beloved corpse. 
But who will describe their terror and amazement, 
when they saw the stone rolled away, the sepulchre 
standing wide open, and the place, where their dead 
Savior was laid, empty? True, an angel declares to 
the afifrighted women: ''Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, 
which was crucified; he is risen!'' But they went out 
quickly and fled from the sepulchre, for they trembled 
and were amazed; neither said they anything to any 
man; for they were afraid"' (Mark i6:6. 8.) Mary 
Magdalene, however, remained at the open door of 
the grave and wept. Oh, how unhappy she was! She 
above all others had experienced the saving love of 
her Savior. Upon her He had revealed his glorious 
power for, as Mark relates, he had driven seven devils 
from her, had thus freed her from, the power of the 
infernal fiends and saved body and soul from tem- 
poral and fearful eternal ruin. Never, never could 
she forget that act of love! Henceforth her whole 
life was a sacrifice in the service of her Savior. And 
now he was dead, her Jesus, her one and all! And 
not only that, even his grave his foes had not spared 
but, as she thought, had come by night and carried 
off his body, and therewith taken the last thing which 
remained to her of her Savior. Alas! her heart 
seemed ready to break; the very sun, moons and 
stars seemed extinguished in heaven, and a thick, 
impenetrable veil of black despair to spread out be- 
fore her tear-clouded eyes. How deep her sorrow 
wavS w^ 3ee from the fact that when she stooped 



Why Weepest Thou? 129 

down and looked into the grave and saw two angels 
there, she did not cry out in terror nor fly away in 
fright, but to their question: ''Woman, why wxepest 
thou?'' she sobbingly replied: ''Because they have 
taken away my Lord, and I know not where they 
have laid him.'' Then, perhaps, she perceives how 
the angels suddenly bow down to the ground, and 
when she turns herself back, she beholds Jesus, but 
in her great anguish knows not that it is He. Her 
eyes are held and she thinks it is the gardener. There- 
fore she does not at once recognize his voice, when he 
says to her: "Woman, why weepest thou?'' but asks: 
"Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where 
thou hast laid him, and I will take him away." 
Then Jesus calls her by name saying, "Mary!'' and 
lo! now her eyes are opened, she recognizes her 
Savior, she sees that He whom her soul loves, is no 
longer dead, but lives, has risen from the dead; and 
with unutterable joy she falls down at his feet and 
cries out: "Rabboni," which is to say, "Master, my 
Master!'' Who will describe the height of her bliss! 
No human tongue is able. Her heart, swimming be- 
fore in blood now swims in heavenly ecstasy. Before 
her enraptured eyes all the earth has turned into a 
very paradise of celestial joy. In a word, she who for 
three days had been struggling with death now has 
a foretaste of life everlasting. You, like Mary, my 
dear friends, are weeping at the grave of a beloved 
one, of a daughter and sister whose affectionate love 
filled your heart, your house, your lives with gladdest 
sunshine. Oh^ what happiness you have lost in her! 



130 For Young Women. 

How you will miss her tender looks, her helpful 
hands, her cheering words, her heart so full of truest, 
tenderest love for you and all your joys and sor- 
rows. Your heart like Mary's is filled with bitter 
woe and dark despair, and there seems to be none 
to comfort you. And yet there is One who can and 
will also dry your tears, also heal your bleeding hearts 
and also change your agony into rapturous joy. Do 
you not know Him? It is your risen Savior, Christ, 
who also asks you so full of compassion as He did 
Mary Magdalene at His grave: ''Why weepest thou?'' 

Let me show you 

i) The meaning of this your Savior's question ; 

2) What answer you should give Him. 

I. 

It is true, my weeping friends, that your risen Sa- 
vior will not appear bodily, visibly, as before Mary 
also before you and ask you: Why weepest thou? 
And what would it avail you if He did? What did 
it avail Mary that she saw Christ in the body? That 
did not comfort her in her woe and sorrow, but only 
heightened her anguish; for, supposing Christ to be 
the gardener, she cries out: ''Sir, if thou have borne 
him hence, etc.!" But when Christ spake to her: 
"Mary!" then she recognized his voice. With his 
word Christ changed Mary's sorrow into joy. So 
even to-day Christ with his saving power will not 
be known by any external, corporal appearance, but 
alone by His word. His word is the means by which 
Christ comforts the sorrowing hearts of his disciples. 



Why Weepest Thou? 131 

dries their tears and turns their grief into joy and 
happiness. You also have this Word of your Savior, 
my weeping friends. In it he also comes to you and 
asks: Why weepest thou? And what does he mean 
by this question? Is it not: Thou father, thou mother, 
thou brother, thou sister, sobbing so bitterly here 
at the bier of your departed daughter and sister, 
thinking perhaps in your anguish that in my wrath, 
my anger, I have taken her from you, — Oh Mary ! i. 
e. thou dear Christian heart, why, why weepest thou 
thus? Look at me, I, your Savior, am no longer dead 
but alive, have risen from the dead! For whose sake? 
For your sake. I hung on the cross, bearing your 
sins, suffering your guilt and punishment and was 
laid in the grave for your sake. But look at me! Do 
you see any sign of your sin, guilt and condemna- 
tion still on me? No, all your sins and transgressions 
I have buried in the grave, hidden them there forever. 
I was delivered up for your oflenses and was raised 
again for your justification. Why, then, do you 
weep as if God was still angry with you? In me all 
vour sins are forgiven, God is reconciled to vou and 
there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ 
Jesus. Therefore not in my wrath have I taken this 
your dear one from > ou but because I have loved her 
with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkind- 
ness have I drawn her to Mel 

Or does the thought that your sweet daughter and 
sister has gone from you after so short an illness 
and must now see the corruption of the grave fill your 
hearts with such bitter woe? Lo, ao^ain vour risen 



132 For Young- Women. 

Savior asks you: Why weepest thou? Mary i. e., 
thou dear Christian heart, look at me! I, your Jesus 
am no longer dead, I live, victoriously have I abol- 
ished death and brought life and immortality to light. 
For whom? For you, for this your daughter and 
sister. My resurrection proves beyond all doubt 
that I am the resurrection and the life and he that be- 
lieveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, 
and he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die. 
Oh sweet consolation! You know that this your 
loved one believed in Christ. Her life, her acts and 
words, her never failing love for Christ, His church, 
His Word, revealed the faith within her. Her last 
hours, her last prayer: ''I fall asleep in Jesus' wounds" 
(Hymn Book No. 375) did they not show you that 
Jesus was the lover of her soul? And now that the 
bridegroom has taken home his bride to the mar- 
riage feast in heaven, will you still weep and mourn 
over her as lost? Will you not believe those blessed 
words of your Savior: They that believe in me shall 
never die? Verily, she is not dead but sleeps, sleeps 
in Jesus! Oh, will you not let her sleep undisturbed 
this sweet, calm sleep in Jesus' arms? Where, where 
could she find a happier resting-place? Could you 
really wish her back again into this mournful life of 
toil and care, of sorrows and heart-aches innumer- 
able? Nevermore! She is happier, far happier with 
Jesus in his mansions above, where the great mul- 
titude which no man can number stand before the 
throne of the Lamb, clothed with white robes and 
palms in their hands, and the Lamb which is in the 



Why Weepest Thou? 133 

midst of the throne feeds them and leads them unto 
living fountains of water, and God himself wipes away 
all tears from their eyes. 

Or, finally, my weeping friends, will you object: 
All true : but still we have her no longer with us, this 
our helpful Abigail, the staf? and comfort of our de- 
clining years! True, but you have your Savior still 
with you who says : 'T will never leave thee nor for- 
sake thee. Lo! I am with you always even to the 
end of the world!'' Has he not promised to sustain 
you with his strong right arm, to lead you in his paths 
of mercy and finally receive you into glory where 
you shall see Him face to face and with Him all your 
loved ones gone before and also your oldest daugh- 
ter and sister? Oh, what a .joy when you shall see 
the glorious promise fulfilled John 16:22: "But I 
will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice and 
your joy no man taketh from you. And in that day 
ye shall ask me nothing; for in that day, 
ye shall see that I have ordered all things well with 
you, with her!'' In the light of that joy, that blessed 
assurance, my dear friends, listen to your Savior's 
question : Why weepest thou? 

H. 
What answer will you give? What answer did 
Mary give there at the sepulchre of Christ when she 
recognized her risen Savior? It is but one cry, one 
word that escapes from her trembling lips, but in it 
she compresses her whole heart, her faith and love 
and happiness! She answers: ''Rabboni, i. e. Master, 
mv Master! 



134 For Young Women. 

Behold, my weeping friends, the answer you should 
also give to the question of your risen Savior. It is: 
''Rabboni, Master, our God and Savior! Thou seest 
the anguish of our hearts, the grief over the death of 
this our dearest daughter and sister. Thou knowest 
how dearly, oh how dearly we long to keep her with 
us. But Thy thoughts are not our thoughts and Thy 
ways are not our ways. Oh Rabboni! Master, our 
Master! Thy will be done! Thou, oh Lord, hast 
given, thou, oh Lord, hast taken away and therefore 
though with burning tears and breaking hearts yet 
with trusting resignation will we say: ''Blessed be 
the name of the Lord! For we know% Rabboni, oh 
our Master, from Thy own faithful lips that we are 
thy redeemed children and Thou our Christ, our Sa- 
vior who hast loved us even vmto death. Thy ways, 
therefore, with us are always right, and perfect, love 
rules o'er them although far above our sight! Oh 
Rabboni, Master, our Master, thou Help of the help- 
less, abide with us in this bitter hour of bereavement, 
grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that he may quicken and 
strengthen otu' sinking faith, save us from the bit- 
ter pains of despair and death, and when our tearful 
pilgrimage is done grant, us a blessed end and gra- 
ciously take us into Thy heaven and to . happy re- 
union with her above! 

Will you not answer in such resignation and faith, 
my weeping friends? Verily, then heavenly comfort 
will fill your weeping souls, the peace of God which 
passes all understanding will keep your hearts and 
minds through Jesus Christ, and when finally with 



Why AVeepest Thou? 135 

Mary Magdalene your rapturous eyes behold His 
glory, united with her you- will kneel down, with her 
before the great, white throne and adoring his won- 
drous counsels of love cry out: "Amen; blessing, and 
glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving and honor, and 
power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever." 
Amen. 



FOR YOUNG MARRIED MEN. 

XXII. 
WHAT GOD HATH DONE FOR MY SOUL. 

Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare 
what he hath done for my soul. Psalm 66:16. 

I have often heard people, into whose homes death 
had entered, taking a husband and father, utter such 
wishes as these: Oh, if he would only speak to me 
again! If I could hear but one word of farewell! 
Only one word and I would try to be content. I 
would try to say, ''Thy will be done.'' 

But now we hear his voice no more. His lips are 
sealed in death. Oh, how hard it is to hear! — Yes, 
such thoughts come to every heart when it is writh- 
ing in the first agony of pain at a cruel separation. 
For death, the king of terrors, the wages of sin, is 
cruel. 

Now I would not have you imagine that such 
thoughts and desires are positively wrong and sinful. 
Our Highpriest Christ Jesus, who was tempted like 
as we, yet without sin, has compassion with our in- 
firmities, even with our infirmities in thought. For 
such these wishes are. They are a mistake, a result 
of our ignorance. Our departed are not altogether 
silent. Being dead they yet speak, even as do the 
saints of old, of whose faith and trials we have a rec- 



What God hath done for my Soul. 137 

ord in the Scriptures. Surely, the eleventh chapter 
of Hebrews shows us that. 

So bear with me for a moment, while I try to em- 
ter upon this your heart's desire. Let us imagine that 
your request were granted. Let us imagine that your 
husband and father, who has now^ entered into the 
rest of the people of God, were granted the power of 
physical speech. What would he say? Listen! 

''Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will 
declare what God hath done for my soul." Surely, 
we dare not imagine that his words would be of the 
paltry afifairs of this present time, of the things of the 
flesh. No, it would be, ''What God hath done for 
my soul/^ 

L 
And what did He do? He redeemed me from sin. 
My friends, if I were to stand here before you to-day 
striving to comfort you as the world does, namely 
by eulogizing the deceased, recounting a catalogue 
of his virtues, real or imaginary, telling you things 
which our departed brother never believed of him- 
self, I would not only be unworthy of my name as 
a Christian minister, but richly deserve your con- 
tempt. For our brother, like all men was a sinner. 
And he knew it. The words of our service, "We 
poor sinners confess unto thee, that we are by nature 
sinful and unclean, and that we have sinned against 
thee, by thought, word and deed,'' were to him no 
mere form of words, no mere figure of speech, but a 
bitter reality. Like Christian in Bunyan's allegory, 
he carried a heavy load upon his shoulders, and what 



138 For Young Married Men. 

is more, he felt its weight. Oh, that every sou of 
Adam were aware of this sad truth! Oh, that every 
one who of a Sunday repeats this confession with us 
felt it as a personal matter! 

As our departed brother's pastor, I may assure you 
that it was this to him. And so was redemption. He 
redeemed me from sin. Knowing and acknowledging 
himself to be ''a lost and condemned creature/' he 
could say of our Lord: ''Who redeemed me," ''who 
purchased me,'' "who won me.'' Being dead, he yet 
speaketh. Listen. Come hither and hearken, all ye 
that fear God: He redeemed me from sin. 

n. 

Again, he brought me to a knowledge of the truth, 
as it is in Christ Jesus. "I believe," says Luther in 
his explanation of the Third Article, "I believe that I 
cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Je- 
sus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him." Ah, yes; 
man cannot save himself. He cannot find Christ of 
himself. "Without me, ye can do nothing," saith the 
Lord. "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but 
by the Holy Ghost." "It is God which worketh in 
you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." 

This being true, w^hat would our brother, could he 
speak, now^ say to us. Would it not be this : He 
brought me to a knowledge of Christ. He brought 
me to a saving faith in God's pardon as it' is in Christ 
Jesus. "He called me by the gospel. He enlightened 
my understanding wath His gifts. He sanctified my 
will ; He kept me unto the end. To Him be the glory. 
Oh, come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will 



What God hath done for my Soul. 139 

declare what God hath done for my soul.^^ He de- 
deemed me from sin. He by His word and grace 
brought me to a knowledge of my Savior. He show- 
ed me pardon in Him. He gave me power to grasp 
it : aye, to hold it. 

HI. 

To hold it. There are times of trial and tribula- 
tion in the life of every Christian; times when neither 
moon nor stars appear to direct his faltering foot- 
steps as he journeys toward the better land; times 
when he crys out with Jacob, ''AH these things are 
against me.'' Perhaps this present bereavement ap- 
pears to you in that light. You, no doubt, feel your 
loss as keenly as Jacob did. 

You, who were nearest and dearest to the de- 
ceased know best how far this truth applies to him. 
He, no doubt, had his share of sufifering, of trials, of 
temptations. 

You know best, and you will therefore be best able 
to say, how God kept him, guided and strengthened 
his faltering footsteps on the road tow^ard Zion. So, 
you will be best able to understand, when I tell you 
that if your loved one could speak, it would be with 
words, such as these. Hearken, ''what the Lord hath 
done for my soul.'' He guided and directed my foot- 
steps in the difficulties and perplexities of life. He 
supported me and showed forth His strength in my 
weakness. He kept me from all harm and danger, 
He preserved my soul in the midst of temptations; 
He made my pains, my infirmities a showing forth 
p{ His glory; and now 



140 For Young Married Men. 

IV. 

He has taken me into His eternal rest, into that 
blessed place where our Lord has gone to prepare 
His many mansions for His people. Oh, if I could 
tell you of those unspeakable things which I now 
hear and see, things which ''eye hath not seen, nor 
ear hath heard, neither have ever entered into the 
heart of man,'^ things and words ''which it is not 
lawful for a man to utter.'' Oh, if I could tell you of 
them. But what good would it do. Your eyes are too 
dim, your hearts to narrow to perceive and grasp and 
comprehend what God has done for my soul.'' 

My friends, this is a precious text and a proper un- 
derstanding of its truths will make it very dear to 
you. Let it be an answer to the cryings of your heart 
Bind it up with your recollections of your husband 
and father. Then it will indeed be a real comfort and 
inspiration to you and to us. ''Come and hear, all 
ye that fear God, and I will declare what God hath 
done for my soul.'' May God help you and me to 
say here in time, He redeemed me from sin, and 
brought me to Christ so that we may say then in 
eternity: He kept me in every trial and led me through 
all evil into the rest of the people of God. Amen. 



A Little While. 141 

XXIII. 

A LITTLE WHILE. 

A little while, and ye shall not see me: and a^ain, a little 
while, and ye shall see me. because 1 go to the Father. 
John 16:16. 

This text was suggested by the peculiar circum- 
stances of this family, apparently torn apart by death 
after having been united for such a little while. Set- 
ting out with the brightest of prospects a few months 
ago, amid the congratulations of loving friends, their 
happiness lasted but a moment. So you will, no 
doubt, admit that these words are appropriate to this 
occasion, when we are met to sorrow with them who 
sorrow even as we rejoiced with them in their re- 
joicing. 

"A little while." These are Christ's words, you 
remember, spoken in those last hours of sad sweet 
communion, when he was striving to prepare His 
disciples for His nearing departure, "A little while, 
and ye shall see me.-' The mode of expression is 
purposely enigmatical, the ''ye shall not see me'' anil 
the ''ye shall see me'' not being coordinate, for the 
first refers merely to physical, the other also to spir- 
itual sight. No wonder they did not understand. 
Nor did they, when He explained and told them that 
they were to weep and lament, but their sorrow was 
to be turned into a joy which no man might take 
from them. 

There is much in these w^ords of our Lord, mucli 
of warning, of admonition and comfort for this poor 
life of ours, and their import is particularly brought 



142 For Young Married Men. 

home to lis to-day, when we are met at the bier of 
one who was with us for such a httle while. Let us, 
therefore, ask: 

What do these words ''A Httle while" say to us? 

I. 

First, I see in them a call to repentance. Compared 
with eternity, the Gospel-day is but a little while. 
How^ much more the time of grace vouchsafed to an 
individual soul. A life time! How long a period of 
time that seemed to us in our youth. Then all at once 
came the consciousness that our life was half gone. 
Like a flash came the thought I have but a little while 
to live. It startled us. Does not the sudden death 
of our friend say the same? Thank God, ''the little 
while" of his life was long enough for him to find 
Christ and a plenteous redemption in His wounds. 
The time of grace granted him was not at all too 
short as it is for so many. But how about you? Have 
you found peace for your soul? Have you begun to 
live after the Spirit? Can you say: 'T know^ whom I 
have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to 
keep that w^hich I have committed unto him against 
that day? — Remember, your time of grace will not 
last for ever. Therefore, "to-day if you hear His 
voice harden not your hearts," but repent while it is 
yet timxC. 

n. 

''A little while.'' We are pilgrims and strangers 
here below, says St. Peter in his First Epistle. This 
world is not our home, for we are fellow citizens with 



A Little While. 143 

the saints of the city of God. So this world is not 
even our "continuing city'' any more than was the 
stony desert of Arabia an abiding place for Israel. 
No, our life is but a journey, a pilgrimage, a ''going 
home." At any moment we may be at our journey's 
end. At any moment we may be called to cast the 
dusty sandals of this present time from ofi our feet 
and enter into the holy courts of the New Jerusalem. 
At any moment our pilgrimage may end. And even 
if it does continue for a few years, it is nevertheless 
but ''a little while.'' 

Therefore, watch. The end of the pilgrimage is 
near. The home of our deliverance draws near. 
Lift up your heads. We shall soon be there, at home, 
watch. Be ye ready. It is just a little while longer. 

III. 

"A little while." That means work. Even if this 
world is not our certain dwelling place, we are put 
here, not for ourselves alone, but for others. We 
have a purpose to fulfill, a duty to perform, a work to 
do. There is a place in God's economy which I, and 
I alone can fill. I have but a little while to do it in. 
Life is short. It is a day; a breath, and it is gone. 
Then comes the night when no man can work. So 
these words of our text are an inspiration to faithful 
service. Work, for the night is coming, coming in 
but a little while. Therefore, O Christian, work! 
Surely, there is enough to do. Why stand idle in the 
market place. Why wait until the eleventh hour? 
The dav is short as it is. 



144 For Young Married Men. 

IV. 

But, my friends, there is not only warning and ad- 
monition in these words. No, Hke honeycomb, they 
drip with comfort. ''A httle while" and this time of 
trial and tribulation will be past. I need hardly 
point out to you the fact, that this our life is a time 
of trial, where we, surrounded by the fires of temp- 
tation, are being purified from our infirmities and 
made pure gold for the hands of our Lord. — Your 
ow^n experience, the services of to-day, the sorrow 
which has entered this happy home, are surely a suf- 
ficient proof of that. Oh, I know it seems long and 
hard to bear. I know it seems an endless night of 
tears. Yet, if you will stop to compare it with God's 
eternity, where there is no time, no beginning, no 
end; only forever and ever, where a thousand years 
are as one day and one day as a thousand years, the 
little w^hile of this present life and its trials sinks into 
utter insignificance. Ah, yes, ''ye now therefore have 
sorrow, ye weep and lament, but in a little while ye 
shall rejoice, for I will see you again, and your joy 
no man shall, or can, take from you.'^ 

V. 

''I will see you again.'' That means the time of 
separation is to be short. Our Lord made good His 
promise at His resurrection and thereby gave us a 
pledge, a seal, an assurance that we are to see our 
dear ones, wdio sleep in the Lord, again. And that in 
a little while. The time of separation is not to last 
forever. If that were so, then we would have every 
reason to sorrow and bemoan the death of our loved 



At Rest. 145 

ones as an irreparable loss. Who could then blame 
us, if we sorrowed as they who have no hope? 

We are Christians— followers of Him, who by His 
death and resurrection, brought life and immortality/ 
to light. We can say: O death, where is thy sting? 
We can look forward to a reunion (a meeting again). 
Our dear ones are not gone — they are only gone be- 
fore. We are to meet again, there, beyond the 
river. They are waiting for us, longing for us, look- 
ing for us. 

And it will only be a little while, just a little while. 
Thank God for this comfort. May He fill our hearts 
with that hope, and make it a motive to daily repent- 
ance, unceasing watchfulness and diligent labor in 
his vine-yard. Amen. 



XXIV. 
AT REST. 

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 
— Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any 
man fall after the same example of unbelief. Heb. 4:9, 11. 

How often we see these words ''At Rest'' on 
a funeral casket, or as part of some floral offering sent 
as a token of sympathy to mourning friends in a be- 
reavement such as this. 

"At Rest!'' May I ask what these words mean for 
you? Do they merely say that the deceased has at 
last found deliverance from pain in the cold embrace 
of death? Do they mean that his troubles and trials, 
his cares and worries are now a thing of the past. 



146 For Young Married Men. 

since he is about to find rest in the grave. Do they 
mean that our departed brother is now happily re- 
moved from the strife and conflict of this world, where 
life is only a struggle for existence; that he is at rest 
in the sleep of an unbroken death. Ah, my friends, 
if these words say only that and nothing more to you 
and me, then it w^ere better they were never read, 
for the sentiment they express would not be a Chris- 
tian one, even as the consolation they offer is mere- 
ly negative in character. 

Thank God, they mean more and say more. What 
Christian can see them without being reminded of 
Hebrews four: 

''There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of 
God." V. 9. 

''Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest.'' 

V. II. 

I. 

"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of 
God.'' That is a fact stated. The great author of the 
Epistle to the Hebrews, in the first nine verses of this 
chapter is leading on to the inference that the rest of 
God, spoken of in the 95. Psalm, is a thing yet in 
store for God's people. In v. 2 he departs from the 
primary sense of the words "my rest" as used in the 
Psalm and lays the stress on the word "his,'' making 
it God's rest, i.e. the rest into which God has entered. 
"God" he says, "did rest the seventh day from all 
His works" (v. 4), a statement which refers not only 
to that rest of one day after the completion of crea- 
tion, but to that enduring rest which began then and 



At Rest. 147 

Still continues; a rest not necessitated by fatigue nor 
conditioned by idleness, but that very continuance in 
governing and upholding of which the Creation was 
the beginning. 

This rest is not a thing future for God; He has al- 
ready entered therein. Still we have in v. 5, after 
God had thus entered into His rest, the oath: "They 
shall not enter into my rest." Consequently, it re- 
mains that some must still enter in (v. 6). For it is 
plain from God's repeating this w^arning to David 
so many centuries after he had first given it to Israel, 
that they, to whom it was first promised, did not enter 
mto this rest because of their unbelief and disobe- 
dience, (v. 7.) If Joshua had led them into this rest, 
surely, God could not afterward have spoken of an- 
other day of rest (v. 8). It therefore follows that there 
remaineth a rest for the people of God (v. 9). Their 
rest is yet future; it remains open; it is not yet oc- 
cupied; not yet exhausted. God's rest is yet in store 
for God's people; reserved for that time when they 
shall rest from their labors as God did from His (v. 

10). 

This is the argument, and with an irresistible force 
it drives home the truth, that there is yet a rest in 
store for all of God's people, a heavenly Canaan into 
w^hich we are to enter by faith in God's promise, 
even as Israel of old entered the promised land by 
trusting and relying upon God's word. 

What is this rest? To Israel it was first of all the 
land which God had promised to their fathers (Deut. 
31:7; Joshua 1:13), that Canaan into which Joshua 



148 For Young Married Men. 

led a believing people, whom God had prepared in 
the wilderness. But the words have a higher mean- 
ing, for Joshua did not give them perfect rest.. No 
doubt, Canaan, the land of milk and honey, seemed 
a perfect rest to the weary, footsore band, which fol- 
lowed the ark of the covenant borne on the shoul- 
ders of the bare-footed priests down the banks of the 
flooded Jordan and came up on the other side to 
stand in the midst of the rustling wheatfields, ripe for 
harvest, which surrounded Jericho, the City of Palms. 
After forty years of wandering in the wilderness, this 
their entering into the land of promise, where every 
one of them was to sit down in contentment under 
his own vine and ligtree, must indeed have seemed 
an entering into a perfect rest. We can well imagine 
how the springs and brooks, the fields of corn, the 
waving trees must have filled their hearts with a sense 
of calm, sweet enjoyment. Israel was at rest. Every 
flower, every bud, every new fruit, must have said 
to them: ''Rest, Israel, rest. This is the promised 
land. This is Canaan. This is rest. 

But was it? How soon they were undeceived. Sin 
was there; sickness was there; death was there. In- 
stead of peace and quietness, we read of war and 
bloodshed. Instead of faith and love, we see unbelief 
and disobedience. Instead of rest, we see only toil, 
labor, care and tribulation. ''Joshua had not given 
them perfect rest." (v. 8.) 

Still the promise stands. God speaks of His rest 
again and again. "There remaineth therefore a rest 
to the people of God" (v. 9). A perfect rest, God's 



At Rest. 149 

rest. A rest into which another and a greater Joshua 
is to lead the justified and sanctified people of God. 
He, our Joshua, has gone before through the dark 
waters of death, leading the way for God's people to 
follow into that heavenly Canaan, that holy ground, 
where there ''shall be no more death, neither sorrow, 
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain" 
(Rev. 21:4), for there ''shall God wipe away all tears 
from their eyes." 

God's rest. There shall we cease forever from our 
labors as God did from His; aye, we shall by the lov- 
ingkindness of our Lord "be' abundantly satisfied 
with the fatness of His house, and shall be made to 
drink of the river of His pleasures." (Ps. 36:8.) 

There will we have rest, perfect rest. Not a mere 
negative deliverance from evil, but a positive enjoy- 
ment of the joy, rest and glory of the kingdom of 
God. 

H. 

"Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest.'' 
Beloved, have you ever experienced the feeling of 
utter weariness, which now and then comes over us 
poor wanderers who are still struggling along in this 
world's wilderness of sin and care and work and trou- 
ble? You know what I mean. The feeling of des- 
pairing helplessness, which makes one long to simply 
give up and He down to escape that "many a conflict, 
many a doubt fightings and fears within, without" 
which here so sorely beset us. 

These times come to the best of us. Elijah had 
that experience when he sat there under the juniper 



150 For Young Married Men. 

tree moaning: "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away 
my life.'' Paul tasted it and said: ''I long to depart/' 
And I fear that you, who now are so filled with sor- 
row at your great loss, are drinking that same bitter 
cup. Your mortal dress, given you for this journey, 
though it last to the end, seems heavy, irksome, pain- 
ful. O that we might cast it off and rest, only rest. 

Are these your thoughts? Oh, do not despair. 
Remember, there remaineth a rest for the people of 
God. Your husband, our brother, has entered into 
that rest. And so shall we. It is promised us; sealed 
to us with an oath. ^'Therefore, let us labor to enter 
into that rest.'' 

Remember, not all entered into Canaan. Nor shall 
all enter into the rest above. Many, oh, so many, 
defeat God's purpose and designs by their unbelief 
and disobedience. And so may v^^e. 

Therefore, let us labor. Do you ask how? Cer- 
tainly, not by being content with this world and seek- 
ing rest here, like that rich fool of the gospel. Much 
less by doubting God's wisdom, mistrusting His 
promises, and murmuring against His gracious lead- 
ings as Israel did. 

Not so, brethren, but by faith. 'The rest of Chris- 
tians is attained by faith," reads the heading of our 
chapter. We are told again and again that Israel 
entered not in, because of their unbelief. Let us there- 
fore believe His gospel promises concerning this rest 
of God and His people, and walk as becomes His 
obedient children, with eyes set on high, striving to 
follow the footsteps of our Joshua leading toward the 



At Rest. 151 

promised land. For, "there remaineth a rest to the 
people of God.'' — "Let us labor, therefore, to enter 
into that rest. xA.men. 



FOR YOUNG MARRIED WOMEN. 



XXV. 
WHITHER THOU GOEST, I WILL GO- 

Whither thou goest, I will go. Ruth 1:16. 17. 

You weep, my friends, and you have cause to weep. 
Verily, if your grief knew no bounds, your tears and 
lamentations no end, who would have the heart to 
chide you? But a short, short year ago, she who 
sleeps before us here in the narrow bed of death was 
a happy bride who stood at this altar in all the grace 
and beauty of lovely maidenhood. Then she was 
decked in spotless bridal garments, with the greening 
myrtle in her hair and love and happiness beaming 
in her eyes. To-day she has come back to us at this 
altar, but others have carried her in, while not to the 
bridal march; no, the solemn funeral march an- 
nounced her entrance. She is dressed again in her 
bridal garments, but they are the garments of death, 
the bridal wreath again crowns her white forehead, 
but oh, it is the bridal wreath of death. Her eyes 
are closed in death's long slumber, her lips are sealed, 
her heart has ceased to beat, and we are here to pay 
the last farewell to her mortal remains, and then con- 
sign them to the dark bridal chamber of the grave! 

Oh, my weeping friends, what word of comfort, of 
hope, of peace can I, who feel so deeply with you your 
great loss, give you in this sad and bitter hour. 



Whither Thou Gocst, I Will Go. 163 

Lo, when I turned me to the Father of all mercies 
and God of all comfort, beseeching- Him for grace, 
for mercy to cheer your sad hearts and mine, the text 
came to my mind, which by her own selection was 
her bridal text, those ever memorable words of Ruth : 
''Whither thou goest, I will go.'' That text, my 
friends, shall also be her funeral text, that shall be 
our farewell song at the bier of her whom we all loved 
so much. 

May God in His mercy bless those sacred words 
and through them let you find a few crumbs of com- 
fort, a few drops of heavenly consolation in this sad 
hour of- bereavement. 

Hear then: Our tearful yet hopeful farewell from 
our deceased sister, we say: 

I. 

'"Whither thou goest, I will go; and whither thou 
lodgest, I will lodge.'' Whither has she gone? Where 
does she lodge? True, in body she now goes to lodge 
in the grave, but not after her immortal soul. Her 
soul has entered into paradise, as Christ promised the 
dying thief, and in him to all penitent humble sin- 
ners dying in His faith, "Verily, I say unto thee, this 
day shalt thou be with me in paradise! But what 
kind of a place is paradise? If I could tell you, 
my friends, then I know your tears would be dry, your 
sobbings cease forever; then would you not weep 
over your departed wife and sister, but count her hap- 
py, for it w^ould be impossible for you to shed a tear 
over her, whose lines are fallen in such pleasant 
places, yea, who now hath such a goodly heritage. 



154 For Young Married Women. 

But alas! eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
have entered into the heart of man, the things which 
God hath prepared for them that love him. Yet 
through our blinding tears we can catch a glimpse — 
and oh ! what a comforting glimpse — of that consum- 
mate happiness, which is now hers in the company of 
all the blessed saints in heaven, if we will only look 
with eyes of faith into the Word of our God. As the 
stars above us reveal the splendor of the visible 
heavens, so the glories of that invisible heaven, of 
paradise, the blessed abode of the saints, glow, with 
entrancing light, in such divine passages as: ''Blessed 
are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: 
yea saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their 
labors and their works do follow them." Rev. 14:3. 
''I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are 
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall 
be revealed in us.'' Rom. 8:18. ''God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no 
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither shall 
there be any more pain, for the former things are 
passed away.'' Rev. 21:4. And best of all, "Beloved, 
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet ap- 
pear what we shall be, but we know that when He 
shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see 
Him as He is." i John 3:2. Aye, "now we see 
through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now I 
know in part, but then shall I know even as I am 
known." i Cor. 13:12. Oh, what bliss! "O Jeru- 
salem, how glorious dost thou shine, thou city fair! 



Whither Thou Goest, I Will Go. 155 

There is joy beyond our telling. 
Where so many saints have gone, 
Thousands, thousand there are dwelling, 
Worshipping before the throne. 

— Lutheran Hymn-Book, 374, v. 4. 

Thither your wife and sister has gone, my 
weeping friends; there she now lodges free, for- 
ever free from all sin, care, and sorrow, in 
the arms of her heavenly bridegroom, her Sav- 
ior Jesus Christ. Lo ! as Eliezer, xA^braham's serv- 
ant, entreated Laban and Bethuel:*'' Hinder me- not, 
seeing the Lord has prospered my way; send me 
away that I may go to my master," so does she en- 
treat you even in death: ''O my beloved, hinder me 
not with your tears and sighs and mourning, but let 
me go, oh let me go, for the Lord has prospered my 
way, let me go, to be with my Master, with him whom 
my soul loveth, with Jesus in His blessed mansions 
above. 

For, I see here what was told me. 
See that wondrous glory shine ; 

Feel the spotless robes enfold me. 
Know a golden crown is mine. 

Thus before the throne so glorious 
Now I stand, a soul victorious. 

Gazing on that joy for aye 

That shall never pass away. 

— Lutheran Hymn-Book, 374, v. 7. 

Oh tell me, my friends, will 3^ou not listen to her 
entreaties; will you not grant her dying request; will 
you not let her go from this sad, wicked, tearful 



156 For Young Married Women. 

world, to live with Christ in his paradise above? Or 
will you complainingly ask: ''But why must she die 
so young?'' does especially your heart so full of bit- 
terness and woe, weeping husband, persistently ask: 
''Why could she not live? Why could not I, like 
others, live happily at the side of this my dear wife, 
with her raise my children in all love and honor, and 
finish my days, like so many others, as father, as hus- 
band, in peace and happiness?'' Let me put a ques- 
tion in return: "Do you really love her? All your 
tears, your grief show you do! Well, then, true love 
desires for the object of its affection all that is best 
for its welfare, its happiness. True love can only be 
happy when it knows its beloved is happy and con- 
tented. But, my friends, bitter as the parting may be, 
tell me what greater happiness could your deceased 
sister and wife have attained, than there is in para- 
dise? What greater, sweeter contentment could have 
become hers than she now enjoys in her blessed home 
above? 

Oh verily, if in your tearful grief you will only stop 
to consider for a moment, what she escaped by her 
death, nothing else but sorrow and labor and pain 
and sin of this world, and what instead she gained, the 
joy, the peace, the incorruptible happiness of the 
world to come, then, my friends, I say that in your 
hearts must arise the firm wash, aye, resolution to pur- 
sue the same way she has gone to the heavenly Ca- 
naan above. You will say as Ruth to Naomi: "With- 
er thou goest, I will go;'' i. e., no matter how much 
my weak flesh may shrink back at the rough and 



Whither Thou Coest, 1 Will Go. 157 

thorny road that leads to heaven, no matter how much 
sin, world, Satan may tempt us to leave the narrow 
path of faith, we will not listen to their seductive 
voices. No! thou dearest, sweetest wife and sister, 
we promise here at your bier, in this sad hour of our 
last farewell: ''Whither thou goest, I will go, and 
where thou lodgest, I will lodge." Thou hast gone to 
heaven, hast attained to the crown of everlasting life. 
With the gracious help of our God and Savior we will 
strive after the same crown and live with thee in 
paradise. 

II. 

But, my friends, in order to reach that blessed 
paradise, where we can see her and all our loved 
ones again, and where death can no more part us, 
we must include in our farevv^ell also the other words 
of Ruth to Naomi: 'Thy people shall be my people, 
and thy God my God; where thou diest will I die, 
and there will I be buried ; the Lord do so to me and 
more also, if aught but death part thee and me." 
In these words Ruth, who by birth was a heathen, a 
M'oabite, declares that from henceforth she would 
join the true people of God, the Israelites, and with 
them serve and worship the only true God, the God 
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You know how faith- 
fully she carried out her resolution, how God blessed 
her for it, comforted her in her sad widowhood and 
finally made her one of the foremothers of Christ. 

Our Ruth, our departed sister, belonged to the peo- 
ple of God, to the holy Christian church. From her 
youth she served and worshiped the Triune God in 



158 For Young- Married Women. 

true and humble faith. She was, as far as man can 
judge, a true Israelite that fought the good fight of 
faith while in this body; now the Lord has blessed 
her, hath given her the victory, the crown of ever- 
lasting life, oh let us follow her example! Like her 
let us remain true to God's people, to His holy Chris- 
tian church. Like her let us faithfully, diligently hear 
and learn His gracious Word, use His blessed Sacra- 
ment, profess the name of our Savior before all the 
world, prove ourselves true soldiers of the cross, 
shunning all sins and vain pleasures of this deceitful 
world, and follow after godliness, which hath the 
promise of this life and the life that is to come. Oh 
then happy will we be, blest indeed above all measure 
by our true and faithful God. In his own sweet word 
He will come and cheer us as a mother comforteth 
her weeping child, as often as the sense of our great 
loss would overpower us. His own good Spirit will 
then fill our hearts with living comfort and hope and 
assure us that nothing neither death nor life, etc., can 
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ 
Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8.) Then when comes the 
hour of our departure from this valley of tears, w*e 
shall be buried, where she now lies buried — and where 
is that? In the strong and loving hands of our Re- 
deemer, where we shall never perish, from which no 
power in earth or hell can pluck us. And when the 
great reunion before His throne comes, when this 
corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal 
body put on immortality, then will death be swal- 
lowed up in victory, then united with her and all 



Address. 159 

the blest we shall sing through all eternity the trium- 
phant song: ''O death, where is thy sting? O grave, 
where is thy victory? Thanks, thanks be to God 
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
Christ/' Amen. 



XXVI. 
ADDRESS^ 

I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand 
at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my 
skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see 
God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall 
behold, and not another. Job 19: 25, 26, 27. 

Wherever in this valley of tears the King of Ter- 
ror, Death, breaks into the habitation of man and 
claims his victim brimming eyes and sobbing lips 
and breaking hearts give evidence of his awful pres- 
ence. But our sorrow at His mournful presence 
grows deeper and our grief turns a two-edged sword, 
w^hen he takes from us, as in this instance, a loving 
sister with whom our happy childhood days were 
spent; the tender wife who was to be our helpmate, 
the sharer of our joys anl sorrows on the storm beaten 
path of Hfe; yes, the fond young mother who so dear- 
ly would have liked to live for the sake of her heart's 
dearest treasure, her sweet babe. 

Verily, it is in such instances we fully realize what 
the depths of woe, wdiat bitterness of spirit lies in that 
little word: death. And though, my friends, you have 
long foreseen the fatal end of your loved one's sick- 



160 For Young Married Women. 

ness, still, noAV that the blow has fallen, now that she 
is gone from you, oh, what loving ties has death not 
broken, what cherished'hopes destroyed forever! 

And yet, my friends, you should not weep as those 
that have no hope. There is a balm also for your 
wounds, comfort, grief-stilling comfort, also for 
your bleeding hearts in the word of our God. In this 
hour of bereavement while you are saying the lavSt 
tearful farewell to your departed loved one, let me show 
you what divine consolation lies in the words of Job, 
chapter 19 125-27. 

I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand 
at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my 
skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see 
God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall 
behold and not another. 

Job was a sorely afflicted man. Death had robbed 
him in one day of seven sons and three daughters; 
border ruffians had carried of¥ all his possessions, a 
terrible malady had made his body one great reeking 
sore, all his limbs were racked with excruciating pain ; 
day and night he found neither rest nor sleep. Still 
deeper grew his misery when in the mouth of his 
nearest kin and dearest friends he had to hear words 
not of comfort and solace, but of upbraiding and con- 
demnation. Even the wife of his bosom turned from 
him in disgust, saying: ''Curse God and die!'' and 
still more, in his soul he felt the fiery darts of God's 
wrath and the onsloughts of the very fiends of hell. 
Therefore he cries out v. 21 : ''Have pity upon me, 
have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of 
God hath touched me." But in spite of all these ter- 



Address. 161 

rible afflictions, though forsaken not only by man, 
but even, as it seems, by his God whom he had served 
so long and faithfully. Job does not despair of that 
friend who sticketh closer than a brother. And who 
is that? That is his Redeemer. In the darkest night 
of his woe and misery he cheers his sorrowing heart 
with the blessed truth that his Redeemer has not for- 
saken him; that his Redeemer still lives, and though 
He afiflicts his believing child now, yet in His own 
good time He will appear on earth, resurrect it from 
the grave, and lead it to everlasting peace, happiness 
and glory. From the lips of the patriarchs Job had 
heard of the wonderful promise concerning Christ, 
the Redeemer of sin-fallen man. The blessed Seed of 
the woman should bruise the serpent's head, i. e., des- 
troy the power of Satan and deliver them who 
through fear of death were all their lifetime subject 
to bondage. (Hebrews 4.) This word of God on the 
lips of the patriarchs Job accepts as divine truth, 
puts his faith and trust in it, applies the promise of 
the Redeemer unto himself, for he says: ''My Re- 
deemer,'' V. 27. Thus faith in Christ, his Redeemer, 
gives the great sufferer hope, strength, courage to 
bear his affliction; and oh, how he longs for that day 
when forever free from all misery, agony and cor- 
ruption, he can behold the blessed face of God, his 
Redeemer! "j\Iy reins," he cries out, as the marginal 
note reads, ''Aly reins, within me are consumed with 
earnest desire for that day.'' Amd he asserts it with 
all possible force that his longing shall be gloriously 
fulfilled, for he declares : 'T know, I am convinced of 



162 For Young Married Women. 

it, as a fact more sure than heaven and earth, that my 
Redeemer Hves, and I shall see him/' etc. 

Our deceased sister was a sufferer like Job, a great 
sufferer in body and soul, yet with this difference that 
she had a loving sister and faithful husband to watch 
and care for her, and to nurse her most tenderly 
throughout her long illness. But what is more, she 
was also like Job in her death-conquering faith. Oh, 
you my sorrowing friends, who have sat with me at 
her bedside know what undying faith lived within her, 
how as a poor, humble sinner she daily, hourly fled 
into the arms of her Jesus and there found forgive- 
ness for all her sins, assurance of grace with God and 
rest for her weary soul. 

You know how the word of Christ, the blessed 
gospel of Him that came into the world to save lost 
sinners, cheered and comforted her, bore her up as 
on angels' wings, on which she soared far above all 
pain of body, doubt and fear of soul, and found peace 
with God and all the world b}^ faith in her Redeemer 
Jesus Christ. How? Is there the least doubt in your 
mind concerning the saving power of Christ's gospel? 
Did it not prove itself before your very eyes in the 
case of your departed sister and beloved wife, a power 
unto salvation, making her cry out: ''Death where is 
thy sting? O grave where is thy victory? Thanks be to 
God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord 
Jesus Christ.'^ When, in her last moments, she cried 
out : Jesus ! My Jesus ! Ready to go whenever Jesus 
calls me ; did she not in effect say what Job here de- 
glares : ''I know that my Redeemer lives Y' 



Address. 163 

Why am I telling you this, my friends? For your 
comfort, for the strengthening of your faith in this sad 
hour. If the word of your God tells you, if the exam- 
ple and experience of your wife and sister proves to 
you: it is true what Christ says: ''I am the resurrec- 
tion and the life, he that believeth in me,'' etc., then 
why should you weep, as if you had lost her forever, 
as if you should never see her again. That is not 
true. Your separation is only temporary, only for a 
little while. There is, as we confess in our holy 
Christian creed, as Job here declares, as Christ, God's 
very Son, assures us^ as your departed sister believed 
with all the saints in heaven and on earth, there is a 
resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Verily, 
our Savior will reveal also to us the truth of his 
blessed promise which he left his sorrowing disciples: 
*T will see you again and your hearts shall rejoice 
and your joy shall no man take from you.'' 

Oh, that blessed day when our Savior appears in 
the clouds of heaven with all His holy angels and re- 
surrects our sleeping bodies, fashioning them in the 
likeness of his glorified body and uniting his faithful 
children before His throne, causing them to meet 
again, who here fell asleep in Jesus and to part no 
more ! Oh the joy, the bliss of that hour ! (Then Rev. 
21 :4 and 5) Then our hears shall rejoice and our joy 
shall no man take from us. 

But let that blessed truth also, powerfully exhort 
us all present here to live daily, hourly, a life of true 
faith in Christ, in order that when He does come, be 
it in sudden death or final judgment, we may be found 



164 For Young Married Women. 

worthy to stand before Him and be received into glory 
and bliss. To that end let us faithfully, diligently, at- 
tentively hear and learn His gospel, for it is alone by 
His blessed word that He can and will prove him- 
self the Author and Finisher of saving faith, also in 
our weak hearts ; save us from the guilt and power of 
sin, the snares of this wicked w^orld, the wiles of the 
devil, and give us strength to follow him on the steep 
and tearful road of the cross, of affliction and death, 
to the mansions of everlasting life above. 

God grant you, my sorrowing friends and us all, 
such saving, world-conquering faith as there to Job 
and here to our departed sister, aye, grant it and pre- 
serve it, in us all for Christ Our Redeemers sake. 
Amen. 



XXVH 

THE CHRISTIANAS HAPPINESS IN LIFE 
AND DEATH^ 

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Phil. 1:21. 

Christians, in their living and dying, are like other 
men. They eat and drink and clothe themselves like 
others. They have their joys and their sorrows as 
others have. They are found working in all the va- 
rious callings and stations of life; they are rich and 
poor, learned and unlearned, experienced and inex- 
perienced, have their merits and defects, their faults 
and failings and infirmities, and are influenced by 
their surroundings, just like others, who are not 
Christians. 



The Christian's Happiness in Life and Death. 165 

So also in dying Christians are, to all appearance, 
like other men. They die young and they die old. 
They die sudden deaths and they die lingering deaths. 
They die at home and they die abroad. They die in 
a conscious state and they die in an unconscious 
state. In all outward circumstances of living and dy- 
ing there is no difference between Christians and 
others, w^ho are not Christians. 

So Christ also says: 'The kingdom of God cometh 
not by observation; neither shall men say, lo here! or 
lo there! for behold the kingdom of God is within 
you'' (Luke 17:21). And St. Paul: "The kingdom of 
God is not mieat and drink, but righteousness, and 
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." (Rom. 14:17.) 
The same is implied in the Apostle's words, which we 
have chosen for our text on this occasion : "For to me 
to live is Christ, and to die is gain.'' This peculiar 
happiness of the Christian in life and death is not to 
be seen in any of the outward circumstances of his 
living and dying. The Apostle says: "Our Hfe is hid- 
den with Christ in God;' and: "Living, we live unto 
the Lord, and dying, we die unto the Lord; so, wheth- 
er we live, or die, Vv^e are the Lord's." Here at the 
closing of a Christian life on earth, here at the bier of 
a young Christian wife and mother, mourned by a 
large numiber of Christian relatives and friends, and, 
perhaps, by some, who are not Christians, it will be 
appropriate for me to set forth to 3'ou 

THE CHRISTL\N'S HAPPINESS IN LIFE AND 

DEATH. 
t) His Happiness in Life ; 



166 For Young Married Women. 

2) His Happiness in Death. 

I. 

What is the Christian's happiness in hfe? It is 
Christ. The Apostle says, not as man, nor as apostle, 
but as Christian : ''To me to live is Christ.'' That is, 
Christ is my life. What happiness: Christ is my life! 
Christ is the Son of God, and He is my life; then, so 
am I the child of God. Christ is holy and righteous 
in perfect obedience to the Father's will, and He is 
my life; then, so am I holy and righteous before God 
in Him. Christ is the true God and eternal life, and 
He is my life; then, so am I an heir of life eternal. 
What happiness! 

The Christian knows as well as any one else that 
he is a sinner; but he believes in Christ, who knew 
no sin, and whom God made to be sin for us, that we 
might be made the righteousness of God in Him; and 
He is the Christian's life. Not his own weak and 
sinful being and thinking and feeling and moving and 
doing and acting and willing, but Christ, is the Chris- 
tian's life. The Christian knows as w^ell as any one 
else, and better too, that in himself, that is in his flesh, 
dwelleth no good thing, that he is a wild and barren 
tree, only fit to be cut down and cast into the fire; but 
in Holy Baptism he was by faith grafted into Christ, 
and Christ is life. Christ himself says: 'T am the 
way, the truth and the life;" I am the resurrection and 
the life; whosoever believeth in me, though he were 
dead yet shall he live.'' And St. Paul says of all 
Christians: ''Even when we were dead in sins, God 
hath made us alive together with Christ; (by grace 



The Christian's Happiness in Life and Death. 167 

are ye saved) and hath raised us up together, and 
made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ/' 
How and why? Because Christ is the life of Chris- 
tians. This is their faith and their happiness in life. 
What happiness! It shines in the inner life of the 
Christian with the joyous assurance of faith, like the 
noonday sun with the triumphant light of day. 

And here arises another sense in which Christ is 
the Christian's happiness in life. He is the Christian's 
life, that is, his aim and object in life. It is the Chris- 
tian's joy to live unto Christ, to live for Christ, to con- 
fess Christ; that Christ's name and word and will and 
kingdom may be magnified by him, and through him 
also by others. If you examine the connection of 
the text you will see that this also belongs to what the 
Apostle said in these terse words : *Tor to me to live 
is Christ." He also meant this, that Christ was the 
w^hole aim of his life. What happiness in life, to have 
such an aim ! For we thus know that our labor shall 
not be in vain in the Lord. Such a life is not lost; 
it bears fruit unto eternal life. The unbelieving 
w^orldling's happiness in life is money and riches. 
This is happiness as brittle as glass. ''Nor doth a 
man's life consist in the things that he possesseth.'' 
The unbelieving worldling's happiness is the enjoy- 
ment of fleshly lusts. This is not happiness, it is cor- 
ruption. 'Tor he that soweth to the flesh shall of the 
flesh reap corruption." The unbelieving worldHng's 
happiness in life is "the pride of life." This is a hap- 
piness full of danger. "Pride goeth before destruc- 
tion," and the loftier the pride, the deeper the fall. 



168 For Young Married Women. 

Not such is the Christian's happiness in hfe. His is 
happiness indeed. 

We may trust that such was our departed sister's 
happiness in Hfe. It comes through the Word of 
God and is nourished and strengthened by the Word 
of God. And she loved the Word of God. She loved 
the habitation of God's house and the place where His 
honor dwelleth. And you, bereaved and miourning 
friends, let this happiness also shine on and in your 
lives, and under the pressure of your present bereave- 
ment it will flow vvith comfort and consolation, as 
wine flows from under the press; and the heavier the 
pressure, the stronger the flow. This happiness of 
the Christian can stand any pressure in life, and is 
happiness also in death. 

H. 

The Christian's happiness in death. What is that? 
Our text tells us plainly: 'To die is gain." The 
Apostle says this, not as man, nor as apostle, but as 
a Christian whose life is Christ. The Christian s death 
is his gain. Dying is winning to him. The unbeliev- 
ing worldling's death is his total loss. Dying is los- 
ing to him. He loses his money and riches, his joys 
and pleasures, and all his expectations perish with 
him in death. His life is lost, and he is lost. He is 
''cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping 
and gnashing of teeth." He opens his eyes after 
death in hell and in torments. Lazarus, on the con- 
trary, is carried into Abraham's bosom. The Chris- 
tian's death is all gain. Even his loss in death is gain 
to the Christian. He loses all pain, all sorrow^ all 



The Christian's Happiness in Life and Death. 169 

weariness, all weakness, all weeping, all failing, all 
sinning, all fearing; all death he loses in death. What 
a happy loss! It is no loss at all; it is gain. 

And what the Christian gains in death is all super- 
abundant gain. He gains the crown of righteousness. 
He strove after righteousness, but always felt his fail- 
ing, in life; in death, he is crowned with it. He gains 
also the crown of life. All the enemies of his life, sin, 
death, and hell, are vanquished and driven from the 
field, when the Christian dies. He receives the crown 
of life: in death, the crown of life. Call it winning, 
call it leaping from the bottom to the top, call it turn- 
ing darkness into light, death into life, and you have 
not yet expressed the Christian's happy gain in death. 
You can not express it. ''For eye hath not seen, ear 
hath not heard, neither have entered into the heart of 
man, the things that God hath prepared for them 
that love Him.'' Such gain, such happiness, such tri- 
umph, we may fondly trust, our departed sister now 
enjoys. As Christ w^as her life, so death is her gain. 

But it shall also be her gain, and your gain, and 
our gain in the object and aim of a Christian's life — 
to magnify Christ, His will. His gospel and His king- 
dom. It was gain in this, too, that the Apostle meant, 
when he said : ''To die is gain to me.'' He meant gain 
also in the great object and aim of his life. He says 
in the verse preceding our text: "Christ shall be mag- 
nified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.. 
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." So 
shall it be in the dying of a Christian. His life's w^ork 
shall suffer no loss, but gain. We speak of the loss 



170 



For Young Married Women. 



we sustain, when a loved one dies. And you, niyl 
friends, now know what it means. You have lost a] 
loving wife and mother; you have lost a dutiful 
daughter, and many of you have lost a friend. Whatj 
a meaning now the motto on the wall has: *'What is^ 
home without a m.other.'' But you comfort your- 
selves, and say: ''Our loss is her gain." This is in- 
deed much; it is great comfort. But is it all you cai 
have? Is it all we all ought to have? No; it shall b( 
your gain, our gain, too. It shall be gain in magni- 
fying Christ. Is it not gain in this, when we see veri- 
fied the Christian's happiness in life and death, an( 
are strengthened in faith and the hope of the glor}'^ 
that is in Christ Jesus? Let Christ be magnified ii 
your hearts, and this sad bereavement will also b( 
gain to you. M'ay it so prove to us all. Amen. 



FOR MIDDLE AGED MEN. 

XXVIII. 
THE LINES FALLEN IN PLEASANT PLACES. 

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I 
have a goodly heritage. Ps. 16:6. 

The words of our text might seem inappropriate 
for the present occasion. It speaks of pleasant and 
goodly things while we hear lamentations and see 
tears and feel sorrow. Those whose lives are full of 
labor and sorrow, toil and struggling, the orphans' 
grief and the widow's anguish, the pain of disease 
and the agony of death, are they those w^hose lines 
are fallen in pleasant places, who have a goodly herit- 
age? We shall find that it is a very suitable text for 
the present mournful occasion. We shall find much 
comfort and admonition by considering the precious 
words : 

'The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places, yea, 
I have a goodly heritage.'' 

i) In their m.eaning as spoken by the Messiah, and 

2) As words put into the m.outh of every Christian. 

I. 

Our text, as the entire psalm, are properly words 
of the Messiah. None but He could say: ''Neither 
wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.-' 
And He, the Messiah, whose body was put into the 
place of corruption, who suffered the agony of bitter 



172 For Middle-aged Men. 

death, whose days were evil upon the earth, He de- 
clares: 'The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant 
places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.'' In His poverty 
and passion He contemplated His glorious inherit- 
ance. The Lord God, the Eternal Father, is the por- 
tion of His inheritance. The Glory of the Eternal 
Godhead belongs to Him, and the ineffable com- 
munion wdth the Father comforted Him. Knowing 
Himself as the Son of the Father, the brightness of 
His glory and the express image of His person He 
rejoices in His sorrow\ ''I have a goodly heritage.'' 
The Father will glorify me with my inheritance, the 
glory which I had with Him before the world began. 

His is the glory of the Sonship, and also the glory 
of the Saviorship: in His suffering He not only con- 
templated His heavenly inheritance, but He also 
looked upon His suffering and its result as His good- 
ly heritage: It fell to His lot, as the Father's Son, to 
go down upon the earth and save the sinners, because 
that was the Father's vvill. The Father said unto 
Him: ''Ask of mc and I shall give thee the heathen 
for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of .the 
earth for thy possession." Again it is written: "The 
Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his 
inheritance." And entering upon the work of re- 
demption He declares : "The lines are fallen unto me 
in pleasant places." The Messiah looks upon His 
lot as a glorious one. His delight is to perform His 
Father's will, to save sinners. "Yea, I have a goodly 
heritage." They are sinners, vile and corrupt, but He 
shed His blood to cleanse them from sin. His Fath- 



The Lines Fallen in Pleasant Places. 173 

er gave them to Him, and in the saints is all His de- 
light, for He rendered them excellent. 

This willing sacrifice of the glorious Son of God re- 
deemed the world. Turn to Him to-day in your trou- 
ble. You may be sure of a gracious reception when 
you plead the redemption gained by Him. And you 
may be sure that He who willingly died for vile sin- 
ners, will deHght to comfort His trusting believers. 
He is able to do so. He can point you to the glorious 
inheritance gained for you by His work. Since the 
Messiah spoke as He did, every Christian may say, 
at all times: ''The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant 
places ; yea, I have a goodly heritage." 

H. 

When the land of Canaan was distributed among 
the famihes of Israel, lots were cast, and when one 
received a rich piece of land, with a fertile soil, abund- 
antly watered and well-shaded, to be held for ever 
by him and his descendants, he may well have spoken : 
'The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, 
I have a goodly heritage.'^ 

Our departed brother did not inherit great wealth. 
But neither that nor anything else we might have in- 
herited from our earthly parents would render our 
lot a happy one. Yet, in spite of all hardships, in 
spite of poverty even, yea, in spite of death the Chris- 
tian may say: "The lines are fallen," etc. 

By faith in the merit of Jesus, by virtue of their 
Brother's intercession the Christians are become 
the children of God, joint-heirs with Christ, possessors 
of the rich goods of their Father's house. It is a good- 



174 For Middle-aged Men. 

ly heritage. What we inherit, we have not earned; 
but owe it to another's labor and goodness. We 
have in no wise contributed anything towards ob- 
taining our rich lot. Meditating on our corruption 
and well-deserved damnation, and realizing the great 
mercy of God in our adoption in Christ, we cry out 
in grateful tones: ''Verily, we have a goodly heritage!" 

It is a goodly heritage. Our lines are fallen in 
pleasant places. Our Father has given us the knowl- 
edge of His grace, the forgiveness of sins, the life 
everlasting. In baptism He has poured His spirit 
over us and by His Word and Sacrament He keeps us 
in the faith. Yea, God has given Himself to us. ''The 
Lord is the portion of my inheritance." We have 
communion with Him. We desire to w^alk accord- 
ing to His will and are happy therein." "Thou art 
my portion, O Lord, I have said that I would keep 
thy words." The Lord is our portion, and we may 
rest satisfied in any situation, finding our happiness 
in Him, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as having 
nothing and yet possessing all things. "My flesh and 
my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart 
and my portion forever." "Here is my heaven on 
earth; who is not joyful, that he has won in Thee, O 
Lord, his joy and rest!" Who will not declare: "The 
lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places!" 

And when their hearts fail in death, their heavenly 
joy and rest is begun, for they are begotten again to 
an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that 
passeth not away, reserved in heaven for them. They 
know that their bodies shall not be kept in corrup- 



The Lines Fallen in Pleasant Places. 175 

tion, while their souls have entered the presence 
where there is fulness of joy and pleasures forever- 
more. On the last day they shall hear the words: 
''Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
prepared for you from the foundation of the world;'' 
they shall look upon the portion fallen to their lot, 
watered by the stream of heaven, shaded by the tree 
of life; there they shall enjoy rest from all enemies and 
bask in the sunshine of the Divine Love; then shall 
they exclaim in bliss: 'The lines are'' etc. 

In the hope of these things your husband and fath- 
er conquered the fear of death. Do you also turn 
your attention thereto. Contemplate what the Fath- 
er's grace and the Savior's love gained for all and 
granted to you. How earnestly your good father, in 
love for you labored that he might leave you a goodly 
heritage: consider how dearly the Lord loves you in 
planning your eternal welfare. What your father 
left you, cannot of itself render you happy, but the 
inheritance of the saints in the light is bliss. Then 
follow the example of Jesus Christ and in the great 
trouble of to-day turn to the glory God has granted 
unto you, as sorrowful, but always rejoicing. Like 
Jesus Christ find your glory also consists in gladly 
bearing what the Father has placed upon you. Aye, 
as the passion of Jesus resulted in the glory of the 
Savior, so should you suffer all tribulation in His spir- 
it, so that we who suffer with Him, may also be 
glorified together. In the knowledge of God's love 
and the hope of future glory, we can say, at all times : 
"The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places ; yea, I 
have a goodly heritage.''' Amen. 



176 For Middle-aged Men. 

XXIX. 
THE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT. 

Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast 
been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ru:er over 
many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Matt. 
25.21. 

During the master's absence there was perhaps no 
difference to be noticed in the affairs of his servants. 
They w^ere all treated pretty much alike. If anything, 
the slothful servant had a more pleasant time than 
the rest. The Christians on earth are not exalted 
above the others in eternal matters. Their great 
worth is not appreciated by men, who are dazzled by 
the pretensions of the slothful servants. But when 
at the masters return the day of reckoning is come, 
the good servants take their proper place. When 
the earthly labors of a good and faithful servant are 
ended, his Master speaks words which reveal the 
grandness of his past life and the glory of his future 
life. For our comfort in the present bereavement and 
all our sorrows, let us hear how on the great day of 
reckoning the good and faithful servant is made the 
recipient 

i) Of his Master's commendation, and - 

2) Of his Master's bounty. 

I. 

When on the day of his death and on the last day 
the life-work of the Christian, God's good servant, is 
reviewed, the Master utters words of the very highest 
praise. Scant praise fell to his lot while on earth. 



The Good and Faithful Servant. 177 

And when he studied the welfare of his soul above 
that of the body, men sneered at his folly. But thus 
the Lord judges: ''Well done, thou good and faithful 
servant.'' ''Well done.'' I am greatly pleased w4th 
his work. His was a successful life. Honorable 
terms are applied: 'Thou good and faithful servant.'^ 
Why does the Lord apply these names? Because the 
servant was good and faithful. Christians are good 
servants, who because they have a good Master, love 
Him and are obedient to Him. They seek His glory 
above all things. His will is the rule of their lives. 
They are glad to serve Him. ''Thou faithful servant: 
thou hast been faithful over a few things.'^ Every 
true Christian is faithful in the employment of the 
goods delivered unto him. He makes diligent use of 
the opportunities to hear the Word of God, and em- 
ploys the means of grace for his growth in faith and 
holiness. He gladly puts his time and earthly goods 
to use in the furtherance of his Master's business. He 
speaks for Christ where he may and rejoices to throw 
his influence on the side of God. The wricked and 
slothful servant refuses to perform these things. But 
he that doeth them, shall be commended in the words: 
"Well done, thou good and faithful servant." 

For servants this is the higjiest possible praise. 
Men who have attained success in worldly pursuits 
are considered to have spent successful lives; but if 
they have not minded spiritual things, their lives have 
been wasted. A grand life, successful and well-spent, 
has come to its close when a Christian dies, a man 
who labored truly to perform his Lord's will. What- 



.178 For Middle-aged Men. 

ever be his success, as men judge, the Master declares: 
''Well done, thou" etc. 

This commendation reveals the great goodness 
and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our faithful- 
ness is entirely due to our experience of our Master's 
mercy, who bought us with His blood. He gave us 
the talents we use. And every good work we perform 
is wrought by His Spirit. Nevertheless, it pleases Him 
to bestow^ sincere praise upon His servants. Again, 
we have deserved, for the many duties neglected, the 
many talents left more or less unemployed, to be cast 
away as wicked and slothful servants. Nevertheless, 
it pleases Him to take no account of the many trans- 
gressions of His believing servants — for His merit 
has taken away their sins — but gladly to acknowledge 
the little they have done for Him. His grace has 
made them good and faithful servants. His grace it is 
that makes so much of their faithfulness. 

Without a doubt our departed brother, who so 
greatly prized the pure doctrine, so earnestly studied 
the will of God, so faithfully labored for Christ, ever 
ready to contribute his offerings, to give good coun- 
sel, to speak the word of admonition and consolation, 
without a doubt he who ever considered himself an 
unprofitable servant apd put his sole trust in the merit 
of Jesus, has been received at the door of heaven with 
the commendation: ''Well done, thou etc.'' 

Who shall describe the bliss this gracious com- 
mendation produces? The only thing we hope for 
is to be accepted at all by virtue of our Savior's merit. 
That alone shall save us on that dread day. And yet. 



The Good and Faithful Servant. 179 

while we are sorrowfully confessing: ''Our lives have 
been ill-spent," shall the words strike our ears: ''Well 
done V ? Is it indeed so : in the presence of those who 
spurned us here and of those who are pressing near 
to rejoice with us, is He applying these honorable 
titles to us? Is our good Master, whose gracious 
countenance is the light of our lives, is He really 
pleased with us? Ah, then shall we be like them that 
dream, our mouths filled with laughter, our tongues 
with singing, our hearts with joy unspeakable! 

11. 

But that is not all: the good servant is also made 
the recipient of his Master's great bounty. "Thou 
hast been faithful over a few things : I will make thee 
ruler over many things/' The good servant is not 
asking, because he has not vvorked for wages. Not 
even of an earthly sovereign will a faithful servant 
deniand preferment to a more honorable position as 
his right. He who has been faithful over a few things 
is receiving a reward of grace when he is set over 
many things. We are saved by faith, freely, and owe 
our Savior a more faithful service than we can ever 
render: nevertheless, faithfulness will be rewarded, 
graciously, richly. 

What a glorious reward it is! "I will make thee 
ruler over many things." Little account w^as taken 
of the Christians here, there they are made rulers 
and kings. It was their grief that they could do so 
little here for God, there they shall serve Him in 
great things. Here they could speak but little, for 
they knew in part only, there they shall praise Him 



180 



For Middle-aged Men. 



with inspired hymns. A man's Hfe is useful only in 
so far as it is spent in God's service: in all eternity 
we shall be God's servants in influential positions. 
And if already our meagre works of earth please Jesus 
Christ, what opportunities for hearing sweet words of 
commendation shall unfold themselves to those who 
are set over many things! 

Enjoying this bountiful goodness, the good servant 
has entered into the joy of His Lord. It is a joy which 
His presence produces which flows from the Foun- 
tain of Bliss. It is the joy of those who from, labor 
and weariness and sorrow have entered into rest and 
comfort and bliss. It is the joy of those from whom 
every taint of sin is removed and who feel the rap- 
tures of perfect holiness. It is the joy of those w-ho 
taste something of the bliss of the blessed God, at 
w^hose right hand there is fulness of joy and pleasures 
for evermore. It is the joy of those who are begin- 
ning to realize a love which moved Jesus Christ to 
shed His blood, that the wicked servants might be 
saved. It is the joy of those who while they are en- 
joying the bliss of heaven and great rewards, know 
that they owe it entirely tO' their Master's grace and, 
casting their crowns before the throne, say: ''Thou 
art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and 
power." 

Will you complain, beloved friends, that the hour 
came which, as we hope, introduced, your father to 
such a joy? Will you regret that his labors are ended 
and his true happiness begun? He himself did not 
grieve, but, when he could no longer inquire in this 



The Glories of Heaven. 181 

temple, longed the more to behold the beauty of the 
Lord in the house above. 

Knowing what pleasures our Master has prepared 
for us, let us acquit ourselves as good and faithful 
servants. As the eyes of a maiden look unto the 
hand of her mistress, so let your eyes, dear sister, 
wait upon the Lord, and as a faithful servant use the 
strength which the comfort of the Gospel and the 
Savior's love holds out to you. Let the example of 
your fathers life, beloved children, be a talent com- 
mitted unto you, faithfully to be employed for your 
spiritual growth. Let us all bear in mind that the 
work of our departed brother must now be carried 
on by others, and the necessary gifts are in our pos- 
session: let us faithfully and zealously employ them. 
The eyes of our good Master are upon us! Amen. 



XXX. 
THE GLORIES OF HEAVEN. 

And I knew such a man (whether in the body or out of 
the body, I cannot tell: God knov/eth), how that he was 
caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words. 2 
Cor. 12:3. 4. 

The heavenly land, which the soul of the departed 
Christian enters, is full of glory. The holy men of 
God who spoke as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost, have described it in sweet words. And holy 
men of God, prophets and apostles, who had been 
permitted to catch a glimpse of the glory of the holy 
Jerusalem, have been moved by the Holy Ghost to 



182 For Middle-aged Men. 

testify unto us concerning what they had seen. St. 
Paul tells us how that he was caught up into para- 
dise, the third heaven. In this wondrous visit he wit- 
nessed great glory, and he specifies one thing: he 
mentions particularly that he heard unspeakable 
words. As the land whither a dear friend has gone 
is the theme of his friends' conversation, and as the 
land which we know we soon shall enter, occupies our 
thoughts, so let us now meditate on the glories of 
heaven, as exhibited in the unspeakable words of 
heaven. 

St. Paul, being caught up in paradise, no doubt, 
beheld upon the thone of majesty the Triune God and 
before Him myriads of angels and countless mul- 
titudes of the elect. The Lord is speaking to His 
people. The holy angels lift up their voices to an- 
swer. The blessed sing songs of praise. Paul hears 
the words. What are they? Why does he not re- 
peat what he was permitted to hear? They are un- 
speakable and firstly because they are words spoken 
in the sublime language of heavenly beings. 

I. 

Some of the heavenly songs are recorded in human 
language, but surely only in slight hints and faint 
echoes. As the speech of the degraded Australian 
tribes cannot express the power and sweetness of a 
cultivated language, so the human language is too 
poor, too weak, too cold to express the great glory, 
the surpassing beauty, the exquisite sweetness of the 
heavenly tongue. And since the entire surroundings 
of the blessed surpass all earthly glory, certainly the 



The Glories of Heaven. 183 

speech also of those whose souls are renewed after 
God's image, whose bodies are glorified, is vastly 
superior to the most powerful and beautiful language 
of earth. It is the language of the holy angels, the 
pure spirits that excel in strength. It is the language 
used by the Lord in heaven, more adequately to ex- 
press his almighty power and love. Every word is 
a song of entrancing melody, strong as the rushing 
waters. Those are sweet words in which a mother 
expresses her love for her child; we are ravished to 
hear a choir of a thousand trained voices execute one 
of our grand chorals; but as for the words spoken 
in heaven, so sweet and touching, so full of power and 
bliss, eternity itself will be occupied in discovering 
their beauty. 

XL 

The words of themselves are unspeakable, and the 
more so, secondly, that they express conceptions 
which have no place in the hearts of earthly beings. 
The child cannot compose the oration of the man, for 
not merely the words, but rather the conceptions of 
the man are beyond its capacity. The words which 
St. Paul heard were concerning things, the glory of 
which has not entered into the heart of man. The 
theme of all heavenly speech is: ''Blessing and glory 
and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne ;'' 
but this theme is unfolded in words which fully des- 
cribe its majesty by those whose understanding is 
perfect. In heaven they look into the very heart of 
things. They understand how God is One in es- 
sence and Three in persons. They know what the 



184 For Middle-ag-ed Men. 

generation of the Son and the procession of the Spirit 
are. They fully realize the unutterable corruption 
of man and continually grow in the knowledge of the 
inefifable love that caused Jesus Christ to die for sin- 
ners. They enjoy pleasures prepared by the all- 
glorious God which eye hath not seen nor ear heard. 
All these things we can now not even conceive — 
where then are the human words into which the heav- 
enly praise thereof might be translated? We can talk 
about the glories of the sunny Italian clime, but how 
different is the description given by him who dwelt 
there! Now, we know in part and now we speak as 
children and need to lay our fingers upon our lips 
while we exclaim: ''O the depth of the riches both of 
the wisdom and knowledge of God!'' but when we 
shall plunge into this depth and 'when we shall see 
God as He is, we shall repeat in glorious versions the 
hymn: ''Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty 
which was and is to come V^ 

HI. 

But to know God is to love Him, and the third rea- 
son why the words of the blessed are unspeakable 
is that they proceed from ineffable bliss. Great joy 
will burst forth in unwonted eloquence. The words in 
which a pardoned culprit expresses his gratitude 
could not be uttered by him who is being led to the 
gallows. There are even here on earth feelings so 
deep that forsaking speech we have recourse to the 
melody and power of music. But St. Peter speaks of 
a heavenly joy, unspeakable and full of glory. It is 
unspeakable up to that blessed hour when it is felt. 



The Glories of Heaven. ]85 

But when it is felt, when the blessed fully enjoy the 
communion of God and all saints, the freedom from 
sin and the delight of perfect holiness, the knowledge 
of God's glory and the sweetness of the Saviors love, 
who can now conceive with what glorious speech this 
bliss shall inspire them, in what seraphic melodies 
the song shall be developed: ''Alleluia! the Lord God 
Omnipotent reigneth! Let us be glad and rejoice 
and give honor to Himi/' 

Such are the glories of heaven, as exhibited in the 
unspeakable words of heaven. Now already the 
word of God, spoken in human language, is our joy 
and strength ; now^ already we love to hear His praises 
sung in earthly voices ; and who shall describe the 
bliss of Him who hears the ineffable words of love 
proceeding from the heavenly throne, and takes up, 
to the accompaniment of angelic harps, the hymn of 
the heavenly choir which springs from imspeakable 
joy and unfolds glorious mysteries? 

And who are they that join in this blessed song? 
"These are they who came out of great tribulation 
and have w^ashed their robes and made them white in 
the blood of the Lamb." The Lamb of God suffered 
unutterable woe upon the cross that, cleansed from 
sin, we might utter unspeakable words of bliss in 
heaven. Think now^ of your departed husband and 
father and friend, he who washed his robes, as we 
have reason to believe, In the blood of the Lamb, he 
who so loved the sure Word of God which opens the 
realms of heaven to the sinner, as he now occupies 
his place among the ransomed host and strikes his 



186 For Middle-aged Men. 

harp with gladness and is making a joyful noise unto 
the Lord. More than this, think now of Him who in 
His love gained this bliss for you and for us all. Be- 
lieve it that He who desires us to enter His heavenly 
temple permits great tribulations to fall upon us that 
our hope and longing may be kept fixed on His love 
and His happy land. You may well utter mournful 
words in the great loss you have sustained, but when 
you know all these things yon will utter unspeakable 
words of praise to the Eternal Wisdom and Love for 
this very trial. You should say: Now already the love 
of God, in my great sorrow, is becoming more and 
more sweet to me. But 

''When within that lovely paradise 

At last I safely dwell, 

From out my soul what songs shall rise, 

What joy my lips shall tell. 

While holy saints are singing 

Hosannas o'er and o'er. 

Pure Hallelujahs ringing 

Around me evermore. 

Innumerous choirs before the shining throne 

Their joyful anthems raise, 

Till heaven's glad halls are echoing with the tone 

Of that great hymn of praise, 

And all its host rejoices. 

And all its blessed throng 

Unite their myriad voices 

In one eternal song.'^ Amen. 



FOR MIDDLE AGED WOMEN 



xxxi. 

PATIENT SUBMISSION TO THE WILL 
OF GOD. 

The will of the Lord be done. Acts 21:14. 

Whatsoever the Lord pleaseth, that He doeth. For 
who can resist His will? His is the power to enforce 
His will and what He determines, must come to pass. 
The measure for our success and the length of our 
lives depends on the will of the Sovereign Lord. 
Whatsoever pleaseth Him, that must be done. — The 
children of the world have constituted fate and chance 
as the rulers of their destinies. At the death of their 
friend they will say: ''It was her fate;" or: ''She 
chanced to sicken and die.'^ "Who can resist the will 
of fate or chance?'' But if we were indeed under the 
rulership of heartless fate or blind fortune, our mis- 
fortunes would crush our spirits or fill us with im- 
potent rage. And if we knew nothing concerning 
God beyond the truth that His will must be done, 
our God were an idol, a tyrant as relentless as "stern 
fate." But what wx know concerning our God, leads 
us not only to admit that His will must be done, but 
also to say: "The will of the Lord be done;" it incul- 
cates patient submission under the will of God as 

i) Our duty, and 

2) The source of great blessings. 



188 For Middle-aged Women. 

I. 

When it was foretold that Paul, journeying to Jeru- 
salem, would be delivered into the hands of the Gen- 
tiles, there was at first bitter weeping among the 
brethren; but seeing his own readiness to submit to 
God's will; his willingness, if it pleased God, to suf- 
fer bondage and death even, they composed them- 
selves, they would not oppose their owm pleasure 
against what they plainly perceived to be the will of 
God the Father, of the Lord Jesus Christ, and though 
it signified the loss of their well-beloved apostle, they 
submissively spoke: 'The will of the Lord be done.'' 

It is our sacred duty to submit to the will of the 
Lord, not only because we have known Him as our 
Sovereign Lord, w^hom all men are bound to obey, 
in whose hand our lives are, who' may take at any 
time what He has given, but also- because we have 
known Him as our wise and loving Lord, who hav- 
ing yielded up His own Son for us adopted us in Je- 
sus as His children, and assured us of His loving- 
kindness towards us, deserves our most cheerful 
trust. He who rules the sparrow's fall, is our loving 
Father in Jesus, and rules our lives with a good and 
gracious will. All things work together for good 
unto them that love God, for the breaking and hin- 
dering of every evil covmsel and will which would 
not let us hallow God's name nor let His kingdom 
come, for the strengthening and preserving of us 
steadfast in His word and faith unto our end. Paul 
will be delivered unto the Gentiles, but he will be kept 
in the faith; and captive Paul will bring many in 



Patient Submission to the Will of (^od. 189 

Rome unto Christ. It is God's gracious will that irx 
all afflictions we learn our great sinfulness and utter 
helplessness, that we be driven to cast ourselves upon 
His almighty power and grace, that through us His 
name may be glorified. Whatever befalls us, His love 
has sent it and His wisdom has selected it. He knows 
what Vv^ill make us better Christians, and we do not 
always know it. He know^s what we are able to bear, 
and we do not. We know that if we had the choice 
our natural blindness and perversity would lead us 
astray. It is the duty of children to forbear question- 
ing the wisdom of their loving Father's choice. We 
must bend our will to His, because He is our Lord, 
and we must blend our will in His, because we be- 
lieve in His increasing love and unfailing wisdom. 
"The Christian's maxim e'er must be: What pleaseth 
God, that pleaseth me." 

There are times when it seeAis as though we could 
never reconcile ourselves to God's ways. In Cesarea 
there was bitter weeping and hearts were breaking. 
Your hearts are crying out: ''Oh, that our dear moth- 
er had been spared us a little longer!" Dearly be- 
loved, recollect who it is that called her hence. He 
loves you with more than a mother's love. He is 
teaching you to cast yourselves upon Him. Bear in 
mind that He will keep these children in His loving 
care. Never forget that but for this wisdom and love 
He would have spared you this sorrow. You may 
not understand Him, but beheve in Him! Heed His 
assurance more than the sad lamentations of your 



190 For Middle-aged Women. 

hearts. Ask the Lord to work in 3^011, by His al- 
mighty power, a wilHng compHance with His will : 

"Renew my will from day to day ; 
Blend it with Thine; and take away 
All that now makes it hard to say, 
Thy will be done.'' 

Do so, and you shall be greatly blessed. 

In Christian submissiveness there is the strength to 
bear our heavy burdens. As soon as the child ceases 
its struggling and nestles to its mothers bosom, it 
perceives her endearment. The self-willed man hin- 
ders himself from seeing the purpose of God: sub- 
missiveness beholds His goodness and is strenghten- 
ed thereby. In great troubles we know not whither 
to steer: as soon as we realize that the Lord is at the 
helm, we enjoy the feeling of security. He that relies 
upon God's will, derives therefrom divine strength. 
*Tn quietness and confidence shall be your strength/' 
Submissiveness is not the resignation of a crushed 
spirit. The soldier vdio is dragged to the attack, who 
doubts the wisdom of the general, is a spiritless be- 
ing; but he who has submitted to his directions, con- 
vinced of his generalship, goes bravely on. God in- 
spires them with strength who confide in Him. Fin- 
ally, it is a bitter cup which is placed to unwilling 
lips: but it becomes consecrated when we take it up 
in the spirit of the prayer: 'The will of the Lord be 
done.'' The spirit of submission transforms the griev- 
ous affliction into a veiling sacrifice. 

And more: as God's purpose will be effected only 
in those who yield to Him, submissiveness serves to 



Patient Submission to the Will of God. 191 

make us better and happier persons, for God's good 
will is our salvation, holiness, and bliss. God's pur- 
pose is to crucify our flesh, to draw us unto him : sub- 
mitting, we find ourselves nearer to God. The very 
act of submission is a clinging to God and that can 
only result in our betterment. The spirit of sacri- 
ficing ourselves for God's sake, must render us more 
loving and kind to all men. And above all: complete 
submission to God's will means perfect bliss. In 
heaven all things shall be subdued unto Him, that God 
may be all in all. ''Of Him and through Him and to 
Him are all things," and the glory of God is beheld 
by those w^ho perfectly merge their will into His. 
Even so Jesus Christ said : 'T seek not mine own will, 
but the will of the Father." It can only result in hap- 
piness to know ourselves as of one accord with God. 
Is it not a blissful thought to know that in us the 
will of the Eternal One is being done? We can be 
happy only when we rest in God, and Christian sub- 
missiveness yields a foretaste of heavenly bliss. Be- 
cause God is good, we should submit to Him: but the 
ness. 

On her death-bed our sister spoke: 'The will of 
the Lord be done." It was a bitter hour when she 
became convinced that she must part, for a time, from 
her husband and children. But she committed her 
cares to the Lord and her family to His love. So she 
conquered the fear of death and dying in the Lord, 
her entire being is in harmony with her Lord. 

Do you also, beloved mourners, submit now to 
God's will He who gave up His own Son for your 



192 For Middle-aged Women. 

sake, has taken your beloved wife away in His good- 
ness. Believe that and you will be richly comforted, 
strengthened and blessed. Cast yourselves upon His 
love and your wounded hearts shall be bound up. Do 
not mistrust Him and you shall behold his loving- 
kindness. Death came by sin, but as the Lord en- 
nobles these things by taking them up in His wise 
plans, do you also ennoble your loss by making it a 
sacrifice willingly rendered because the Lord demand- 
ed it. Learn to be pleased with what pleases God, 
and you shall have a foretaste of heavenly bliss. The 
blessed derive their bliss from their union with God, 
therefore let us merge our will in God^s will and pray: 
'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'' Amen. 



XXXH. 

THE GLORIOUS HOPE OF THE RESURREC- 
TION OF THE BODY. 

It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it 
is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in 
weakness; it is raised in power. 1 Cor. 15:42. 43. 

After our services here in the church, we will ac- 
company these mortal remains to their last resting- 
place, and, calling upon God in prayer and song, 
lower the coffin into the grave, and the funeral-rites 
will be ended. But will that be the end? Having 
cast a look upon the dear form, have we really beheld 
it for the last time? You know what our fathers 
called their burial-places: ''God's acre,'' the acre of 
which God is the husbandman. The farmer sows his 



The Glorious Hope. 193 

v/heat in the acre and, returning after a season, gath- 
ers therefrom a golden harvest. What we are about 
to do to-day on God's acre, is not the end, but merely 
the beginning. We have performed our work in the 
sowing, but after a season the owner of the acre will 
appear and perform a miracle. Our text has foretold 
it. It tells us of the glorious hope of the resurrection 
of the body. 

Let us speak 

i) Of that which is promised, and 

2) Of those who have this hope. 

I. 

''It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorrup- 
tion. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It 
is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.'' We be- 
lieve in the resurrection of the body which perished 
in death. Upon the sowing follows the harvesting; 
if it be a common acre, we are reasonably sure of it; 
if it be God's acre, we are absolutely sure of it. What 
is sown, that is raised. 

We believe in the resurrection of the body in glory. 
Shall the child of God take this body so wasted and 
disfigured with disease, into the realms of bliss? 'It 
is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption." 
The very same body will be raised, that which was 
sown, but how gloriously changed, how wondrously 
transfigured! Here it was corruptible, death de- 
voured its strength and form, it fell apart in dust, and 
the worms preyed upon it: it is raised in incorruption, 
death can nevermore blight nor reproach it, it is 



194 For Middle-aged Women. 

clothed with immortahty. It is sown in dishonor, 
into the grave is lowered a vile body, ill-looking, 
branded with shame, for it is dead, and death, the 
consequence of sin, is dishonorable: it is raised in 
glory, living, lovely, dazzling, bright as the sun, like 
unto the glorious body of the Lord Jesus Christ. It 
is sown in weakness, a body enfeebled by sin, unable 
to resist death, now an impotent and senseless mass: 
it is raised in power, immortality and bliss invigorates 
the bodies of those who by the grace of God are made 
like unto the holy angels that excel in strength. 

What is raised is that which was sown, but ah, 
how much- more excellent! You drop a flower-seed 
into the soil, a black, unsightly little grain: behold, 
after a little while, the luxuriant bush, full of blos- 
soms, fragrant and beautiful! An acorn is planted, a 
little corn which an infant may toss about, and there 
groweth therefrom the mighty oak, deeply-rooted, 
storm-defying. So also is the resurrection of the 
dead. "It is sown in corruption, it is" etc. 

It is raised in glory, for it is destined to clothe again 
the soul, the soul which is sinful no more, but per- 
fectly renewed after the image of God. A beggar 
wears rags, but a king is clothed with rich garments, 
and that is seemly. And shall not our souls, raised in 
heaven to royal dignity, be clothed with a royal dress, 
shall not our bodies be raised in power and honor? 

God grants unto every body the glory which suits 
its condition, (v. 40.) To enjoy heavenly bliss there 
must needs be heavenly bodies. To express the feel- 
ings of the soul, which is filled with the goodness of 



The Glorious Mope. 195 

God, there is need of a tongue which can speak words 
of heavenly power and sweetness. These poor eyes 
cannot bear to look into the sun, but ''in my flesh shall 
I see God, whom mine eyes shall behold." There- 
fore, it is sow^n in weakness, but it is raised in powder. 
This body, in its sinful condition and natural weak- 
ness, subject to earthly wants and the laws of time and 
space, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. But ''we 
are waiting for the redemption of our body/' when 
"the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the king- 
dom of the Father.-' "Beloved, now are w^e the sons 
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.'' 
Verily, at this moment it doth not yet appear. "It 
seems as all were over now, the heavy limbs, the 
soulless brow. — Yet through these rigid limbs once 
more a noble life, ere long, shall pour. Arrayed in 
glorious grace shall these vile bodies shine, and every 
shape and every face look heavenly and divine." "It 
is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption,'' etc. 
Lay this truth to your hearts, dear friends, as you 
look upon the soulless body of your mother. It is a 
sorrowful sight, but as the husbandman does not 
mourn when he goes forth to sow his seed, so let us, 
going upon God's acre, comfort our sorrow with the 
glorious hope: "It is sown in corruption, it is raised in 
incorruption,'' etc. Have we the right to cherish this 
hope? Let us see. 

II. 

When the resurrection of the dead is preached, 

some mock and say, it is utterly impossible. "Thou 

fool, that w^hich thou sowest, is not quickened, ex- 



196 For Middle-aged Women. 

cept it die." Shall He, who causeth wheat to grow 
from the decaying seed, be unable to raise the dead? 
Believing in the almighty power of God, we have rea- 
son to believe in the resurrection of the body in 
glory. 

But a living hope thereof will not be created by the 
knowledge of God's omnipotence merely. By nature 
all men are the children of wrath, the sons of corrup- 
tion, the heirs of damnation. All that are in the 
graves shall come forth at the last day, but they 
that have done evil unto the resurrection of damna- 
tion. Men who reject the salvation of Jesus and con- 
tinue in the evil way, who neglecting their souls, 
study the welfare of their bodies only, are like unto 
tares which, falling to the ground, are useless and, 
sprung up, are gathered and burned in the fire. They 
are sown in corruption and weakness and dishonor: 
they are raised to despair and shame and everlasting 
contempt. 

We, too, were by nature the children of wrath. But 
we have heard and believed that Jesus Christ came in 
the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned 
sin in the flesh. Jesus Christ, enduring in His holy 
body shame and contempt and death, hath brought 
life and immortality to light. Rising in a glorious 
body. He prepared the way for the resurrection in 
glory. And they who, having deserved eternal death, 
in body and soul, grasp the merit of Jesus' death, can 
triumphantly exclaim, for body and soul: '^O death, 
where is thy sting? () grave, where is thy victory: 

Having this hope, the Christian does not live for 



ov 



The Glorious Hope. 197 

time, but for eternity. His bliss is not in temporal 
things, but in heaven. He takes care not to defile that 
body in the service of sin, which is destined to eternal 
glory. He is ready to suffer in the body, knowing 
that the last day will crown those who received hon- 
orable woimds in the service of Christ. In such an one 
the promise of our text shall be fulfilled, and such an 
one was our departed sister. She knew in all the 
pains of her last illness that she had earned the pain 
of damnation. And though she had striven to keep 
under her body by not permitting its needs to hinder 
her in her care for spiritual things, she met death by 
placing her confidence, not in her well-spent life, but 
on the victory of Jesus Christ. Her conversation 
was in heaven, from whence also she looked for the 
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

And our Lord Jesus Christ shall change and fa- 
shion our vile body like unto His glorious body. 
Gladly trust this lifeless body to His care and in 
the present distress trust yourselves to His grace. 
If our bodies in death are in His hands, He will sure- 
ly also care for them in this life. He who is ready to 
honor our bodies, is certainly studying the welfare of 
your souls also. Through death the body passeth 
unto glory, and in tribulation our souls are tried and 
purified. Let us trust ourselves in the hands of the 
Lord. "Whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and 
whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we 
live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.'^ Amen. 



198 For Middle-aged Women. 

XXXIII. 
TO LIVE IS CHRIST AND TO DIE IS GAIN. 

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Phil. 1:21, 

When death comes to the rehef of one whose hfe 
w^as embittered by sorrow and suffering, the godless 
will perhaps say: ''Her death was a great blessing to 
her; it delivered her from so much woe; she is bet- 
ter oiT dead than alive.'^ But even if death were man\s 
•utter extinction, as they profess to believe, would it 
not be a bitter mockery to bid a sorrowing house- 
hold welcome an event which utterly and forever 
has robbed them of their beloved mother? But as 
death, to the unbeliever, means utter loss, the loss 
of life and hope, the agonies of the eternal death, 
their talk of death being a gain, the deliverance from 
earthly woe, is vanity and mockery indeed. 

Your hearts, beloved, vdiich are aching at the greiit 
loss you have sustained, are now yearning after com- 
fort. Let me say unto you: ''Weep not! Her death 
was a great blessing tO' her; she is better ofif now than 
before; death was a great gain to her.'' Among 
Christians, these words are flowing with comfort. 
We have not lost those who died. And they who d"ed 
gained great things. They are delivered from all 
sorrow and suffering. And that perhaps is the least 
gain. The most precious g*ain is that which results 
from their peculiar relation to Jesus Chr'st, and which 
indeed, comprises all blessings. Because to the Chris- 
tians to live is Christ, to them to die is gain. 



To Live is Christ, and to Die is Gain. " 199 

It is a peculiar expression: 'To me to live is Christ/' 
but it expresses peculiarly well the real nature of the 
Christian life. It is a life in which Christ is every- 
thing, the principle and the object, the glory and the 
happiness. Christ is our life, the principle and, as it 
were, the soul of our life. It is Christ that lives in us. 
Appropriating the blood and righteousness of Christ, 
by faith, we are spiritually alive; we live by faith, but 
faith is the product, the breath of our inner life which 
is Christ. The pov/er by which w^e lay hold of God 
and walk in hoHness is Christ within us. Christ is 
one with His i .^ ^"oers. He lives in His members. 
When Paul beircVes and prays and works and 
preaches, Christ is doing these things. 'T live, yet 
not I, but Christ liveth in me." ''To me to live is 
Christ," my real life is a life which Christ lives. Con- 
sequently, the Christian's life is an expression of this 
life-power within him, he lives Christ, that is, he lives 
a life in which Christ is everything to him, a life which 
to him is the medium for enjoying Christ and express- 
ing His goodness and power. Because the soul lives 
in the members, the members live by the soul, for the 
soul, they live the life of the soul. Because Christ was 
the life of Paul, Paul lived by Christ and for Christ, 
his life was imbued with Christ, Christ's grace and 
glory and will was the object and happiness of his life. 
His life was to lay hold of Christ's grace and to pro- 
claim Christ's glory. ''The life which I now live in the 
flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved 
me and gave himself for me." He belonged not unto 
himself, but unto the Lord, he lived not unto himself, 



200 For Middle-aged Women. 

but unto Christ. He was willing to live in the flesh, 
because he could thereby serve the Lord. He judged 
of all things by bringing them into reference to Christ. 
He loved the Bible as Christ's Word, the Lord's Sup- 
per as Christ's Sacrament, his dearest friends were the 
brothers of Christ, his sweetest work the performance 
of Christ's will, his only comfort in his many trans- 
gressions and his daily strength the grace of Christ. 
Whom had he in heaven and upon earth but Christ? 
Christ was in his heart and in his walk. To him to 
live was to use and exercise and express, though in 
much weakness, the power of C ^ 's holiness: to 
him to live was Christ. --"^ 

Paul was willing to live in the flesh, for such a life 
is worth living. There are those to whom to live is 
sin, and their lives are vain and unhappy, but what a 
glorious thing it is to live a life which is the medium 
of tasting Christ's goodness and expressing His hon- 
or and proclaiming His glory? 

But how little after all it expresses the glory of His 
power, how much there is in us poor, sinful beings 
which is not the result of Christ's grace and holiness ! 
It is the best thing on earth, but there is something 
far better. Paul desired to depart and to be with 
Christ, and when death shall deliver us from this 
weak and sinful body, how much we shall gain by 
being brought into perfect communion with Christ, 
our Life! 

Our life is hid with Christ in God, but when Christ, 
who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear 
with Him in glory, and, untrammeled by weakness, 



To Live is Christ, and to Die is Gain. 201 

untroubled by sin, live a life of perfect holiness and 
unspeakable joy. But of this life Christ is Alpha and 
Omega, the beginning and the end, all in all, and we 
shall see Him and have Him and enjoy Him as He is. 
The glory of Christ transfigures the blessed and their 
life in a perfect expression and use of His grace and 
holiness. Here Christ is our life, but we know so 
little of Him, there we shall know Him even as we 
are known by Him. It is a happy life on earth, for in 
it we enjoy His grace somewhat and a noble life, for 
it is employed in His service, but what a glorious 
life it will be when the fulness of His grace is en- 
joyed by us and eternity is an uninterrupted service 
of praise! It is the grief of our earthly life that we 
so imperfectly live in Christ and grieve Him so often, 
but we shall be perfectly satisfied when we awaken 
with His likeness, transformed from glory to glory. 
Our life in the flesh is a longing after Christ which 
shall be satisfied in the eternal life. Here we some- 
times long overmuch after earthly things; but there 
we shall only drink from the pure river of water of 
life descending from the throne of God and of the 
Lamb. Christ is our light and strength in the dark- 
ness of the present time, but Oh, the bliss of that city 
of which the Lamb is the light. We love to praise 
Him in the house of God, but what a shout of joy 
shall arise when the Lord God Almighty and the 
Lamb themselves are the temple! To us to live in 
the flesh is Christ, but Oh, the gain of death which 
brings us into full communion with Christ! We de- 
sire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 



202 For Middle-aged Women. 

To her who has departed this hfe to hve has been 
Christ. Christ hved in her, for she hved a truly 
Christian Hfe among us. Christ's Word and grace 
were her strength. WiUingly she performed the 
work to which Christ caUed her; where she failed 
therein, she sought His forgiveness; earnestly she 
desired more ably to perform it. She longed for the 
time when Christ should be all in all in her life, and 
now, though dead, she lives indeed. Her death was a 
great blessing to her. She is better ofif than we are. 
now she is wath Christ in the perfect life. Will you 
mourn that happy day, when she, for whose happi- 
ness you would willingly sacrifice your very lives, 
gained all good things by the grace of Jesus? 

In this dark hour you should recollect and say: 
''To us to live is Christ.'^ You may feel as though yon 
would rather depart this life this minute and be re- 
lieved of the present bitterness, but your lot is to live 
in the flesh — Christ is your life, live in order to be 
comforted by His grace and to show forth the power 
of His goodness and hoHness. Have you nothing to 
live for? Live for Christ, like Christ, in Christ. Let 
Christ be your all, your happiness and your pattern, 
and comforted, you will the more earnestly look for- 
ward to the happy day, when you shall be w4th Christ 
and with your mother who- is with Him. Look to 
Christ and you shall not be confounded. For if to 
us to live is Christ, the death of our dear ones and 
our own death is our gain. Amen. 



The Continuing City. 203 

XXXIV. 

THE CONTINUING CITY; THE GOAL OF 
OUR PILGRIMAGE. 

Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to 
come. Heb. 13:14. 

Like as a child who is bereft of his parents, repulsed 
by his relatives and thrust away by a heartless com- 
munity, who has no abiding-place, but is driven by 
harsh words from the homes of men and knows not 
where to lay his head nor whither to turn for comfort, 
suffers bitter woe and terror in its disappointment, 
uncertainty and loneliness, even so the children of 
men are become wanderers upon the face of the earth, 
for they have here no continuing* city, their fondest 
hopes are doomed to disappointment, no earthly th'ng 
can give them rest, and at the appearance of death 
they are cast into an abyss of doubt and loneliness. 
But let such forsaken child be adopted into a Chris- 
tian family, let it realize that its wanderings are ended 
and a father's care and a mother's love encompass 
it, can you realize the joy of its heart and the rest 
of its soul? Surely, we can, for we, too, had no con- 
tinuing city, and we found one and our life is a hasty 
journey to reach our home. In this hour, having be- 
fore us the uncertainty and vanity of all earthly 
things, let us direct our attention to the continuing 
city, the goal of our pilgrim.age. 

i) They are its citizens and shall reach it who know 
that they have here no continuing city, but seek the 
one to come by faith in Jesus. 



204 For Middle-aged Women. 

2) In all earthly losses they are comforted by the 
hope of the continuing city. 

3) And the vanity of all earthly things should urge 
us the more earnestly to seek it. 

I. 

The end of those who mind earthly things and seek 
their rest in the lusts of the world is destruction, they 
experience disappointment, and reach damnation. 

But the children of God know that they have here 
no continuing city, that nothing earthly is abiding, 
that they must leave this world, that the world itself 
will pass away. And they know more. They know 
that there is a city to come which hath foundations, 
whose glory fadeth not, and that God has prepared 
this city for them. They know, above all, that the 
gates of the heavenly city are closed against all de- 
filement of sin and self-righteousness, but also that 
Jesus' blood has washed away their defilement and 
that unto all who knock in the name of Jesus it will 
be opened. And this city they seek, but not after 
the manner of the uncertain search of adventurers, 
but after the manner of exiles who are returning 
from banishment to their native city. They have here 
no continuing city, but confess that they are stran- 
gers and pilgrims on the earth, who refuse to be re- 
tarded in their home-going by the pursuit of wordly 
pleasures. They seek the city to come whose free- 
dom has been bestowed upon them in baptism, their 
engrossing hope is the coming of the Lord Jesus to 
take them home, and their walk is regulated by the 
law of the heavenly city. 



The Continuing City. 205 

Our departed sister, in the profession of her faith 
in Jesus Christ, her love for the Gospel of the king- 
dom of God, her manifest denial of the charms of 
worldly honor and riches, her readiness, aye, her de- 
sire to depart and be with Christ, proved herself a 
citizen of the continuing city. And all who thus seek 
the city of God by faith in Jesus enter it. 

In the hour of death they enter it. Therefore 
against death and against all earthly losses we find 
rich comfort in the hope of the continuing city. 

11. 

The faith of the unbeliever: In the grave is nought 
but corruption, and beyond the grave utter darkness, 
engenders the dismal thought at the death of a sweet 
child: Nevermore, again shall we behold this lovely 
form! at the death of a loving mother the dread 
thought : Forever gone are all opportunities to show 
her our gratitude whose debt w^e now so strongly feel, 
at the end of a life full of disappointments the blank 
despair: Now indeed all is at an end — and the judg- 
ment is at hand. Death proclaims the sinner's guilt, 
but death itself does not reveal the Savior's mercy. 
And where there is no hope of a continuing city or 
the false hope of gaining it aside from Christ's merit, 
there death can be met only by deadly sorrow, be it 
manifest in black despair or be it veiled under unnat- 
ural indifiference, the sorrow of those w^hich have no 
hope. 

We Christians likewise experience the vanity of all 
earthly things. Our plans miscarry, the work of our 
hands crumbles, our friends are taken from us, All 



206 For Middle-aged Women. 

flesh is as grass and all the glory of man fadeth away 
as the flower thereof. We have here no continuing 
city. But oh, the comfort of the thought, we are seek- 
ing one to come! They may drive us from their 
cities, we are seeking one to come. What though 
we sufifer earthly losses, the continuing city remains, 
and our treasure lies hidden there, a treasure uncor- 
ruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away. 
There is no sense of insecurity in those who lose w^hat 
they need not, but retain the possession of that which 
they prize above all things. The homeless child feels 
untold terrors in the raging storm, but boldly he 
pushes through who is hastening to reach the shel- 
ter of his father's home. We too must fade away in 
death, but dying we enter the continuing city — thank 
God, that all earthly things pass aw^ay: losing all we 
gain everything. 

In the great loss you have sustained, beloved 
friends, remember that we are seeking a continuing 
city. So good and gentle she was, so good and gentle 
she is still, and her love is made perfect. Is it so 
deplorable that she had to leave you just as alTairs 
were beginning to shape themselves so as to insure 
her a more pleasant and restful lot: when you know^ 
that she left you to enter the perfect rest and happi- 
ness above? There ought to be no sense of loss in 
those who believe in the life everlasting and have rea- 
.son to hope that their beloved ones died in the Lord. 

And the sweetest comfort of all: w^e sinners have 
here no continuing city, v/e sinners can hope for the 
city to come because Jesus loved us. Unto us who 



The Continuing- City. 207 

deserve death and damnation the grace of Jesus is 
revealed, and his love comforts us in the greatest loss. 
The more we feel our loss, the more eagerly we 
turn to Jesus to be comforted by him. And that is 
God's good and gracious will: the bitter experience 
that we have here no continuing city, should urge us 
to seek, more and more earnestly, the eternal city. 

III. 

As this corpse lies before you, so shall you also 
die — and w^hither will death take you? Blessed is 
he who finds entrance into the continuing city by the 
grace of Jesus — have you all this hope? The Lord 
desires to raise these questions in our hearts to-day. 

There is no creature which can be our stay: let us 
cling to Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, 
and forever, the king of the continuing city. The 
loss of her who has been, dear brother, the friend of 
your youth and the companion of your trials, has 
wounded you sorely: then, even as your children, be- 
reft of their mother, now^ cling the more closely to 
their father, do you also seek more earnestly the com- 
munion of Jesus, the Lover of your Soul? Does your 
heart tremble at the thought of what is to become of 
your motherless family? There is no earthly stay, 
but cast your care upon the faithful Lord. And to 
you, dear children of our sainted sister, I will say 
this : now in the hour of death you realize better than 
before that all corrections your sainted mother ad- 
ministered to you wxre prompted by her great love — 
so the great sorrow which your heavenly Father has 
permitted to encompass you is one of His methods 



208 



For Middle-aged Women. 



for drawing you closer to Himself and keeping your 
attention directed to the continuing city. 

God, our Lord, directs things so as to teach us 
through disappointments and losses, that we have 
here no continuing city because we are sinners, in or- 
der that the homeless child may long for a home and 
the sinner for a Savior. And we Christians need to 
re-learn the lesson daily. Bitter grief turns us against 
this sinful world and opens our hearts to cry: 

^'Lord Jesus, King of Paradise, 

Oh, keep me in Thy love, 

And guide me to that happy land 

Of perfect rest above. Amen. 



XXXV. 

BLESSED ARE THE DEAD WHICH DIE IN 
THE LORD^ 

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from hence- 
forth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their 
labors; and their works do follow them. Rev. 14:13. 

Little did I think when I spoke a few weeks ago 
upon the sad scenes of death, that we should so soon 
have the full reality of all that was* mentioned — I 
spoke at that time of a mother being torn from her 
child, of a sister taken from the family circle, of a 
daughter leaving us, and of that separation of the 
closest of all earthly ties, of wedlock. And now, we 
have all this sorrow of death in one departure; for 
to-day the Lord has gathered us about the earthly 



Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. 209 

remains of one who held to some one each of the men- 
tioned degrees of relationship. 

With her departure, there has gone from us a duti- 
ful daughter, a kind sister, a cheerful, loving wife 
that made the home bright and dear, a mother with 
all a mother's devoted love for her child. Were it my 
duty to paint sadness and sorrow, it would be easy for 
me to point to this scene of grief, and let it speak 
louder than all words. But, I am not here to cause 
tears, but to dry them. I am not here to show the 
victory of death, but the victory of a dear Christian; 
not to show the darkness of the grave, but the light 
which illuminates it. It is her last and most glo- 
rious victory that changes this whole scene from one 
of the darkest to the brightest hope. When I stood 
at her bedside the evening before the Lord called 
her home, she said: 'Tastor, if it had not been for the 
Lord, I could not have gone through all this,'' and 
it sounded to me very much like the w^ords of David: 
''If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, 
the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone 
over our soul." She confessed that without the Lord 
she could not have gone through it, but that the 
Lord helped her. And thus also we may say with her, 
''If it were not for the Lord \Ye could not bear this 
sorrow, but, thanks be to our kind and merciful Lord, 
He helps and cheers us in this hour, even in this 
depth of sorrow^ He has a w^ord of sweetest comfort 
for us. Oh! that this word would enter our hearts 
and soothe our sorrow and heal our wounded spirits. 

For this purpose let us now attend to the word 



210 For Middle-aged Women. 

which is found recorded in the Revelation of St. John 
in the 13th verse of the 14th chapter and reads as fol- 
lows : 

BLESSED ARE THE DEAD WHICH DIE IN 

THE LORD FROM HENCEFORTH: YEA, 

SAITH THE SPIRIT, THAT THEY MAY 

REST FROM THEIR LABORS, AND 

THEIR WORKS DO FOLLOW 

THEM. 

It is not of all dead that we can say 'They are 
blessed.'' Alas! there are times when we can offer 
no consolation. But of those who die in the Lord, 
we may triumphantly exclaim : ''They are blessed.'' 
But who are they that die in the Lord? Do those die 
in the Lord, who, looking back upon their life, pro- 
nounce it perfect, saying: My life, my walk and con- 
versation before my God is without spot or blemish? 
No, those who die thus, die trusting in themselves, 
and will receive the just reward of their self-right- 
eous lives. Nor do those die in the Lord who, know- 
ing their sin, despair because they either do not know 
or do not accept the forgiveness of their sin, in Christ, 
their Savior. Nay, those who die in the Lord are 
such as die in the true faith in, and in real love to- 
ward, that Savior. They indeed know the failings 
of their life, they see that their life has not been that 
of a blameless servant; their shortcomings, neglect, 
and transgressions are before them and pain them 
sorely, but they look away to Calvary where hanging 
to the cross they see the Lamb of God that hath 
taken their sins upon himself, and is there suffering 



Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. 211 

the punishment which they deserved. They feel 
weary and are heavy laden, but they cast their burden 
upon Him, who has promised rest to all such.. Their 
trust and reliance is in the Lord's mercy and grace. 
They find their peace in the Lord's suffering and 
death. They are poor in themselves, but rich in 
Christ, they have no robe of self-righteousness, but 
they have the spotless shining white garment of 
Christ's righteousness, they die in full reliance 
upon their Savior, and therefore they die in the Lord. 
And because by this faith they are united with Christ, 
therefore, there is in them also a warm love towards 
Christ. They indeed love the blessings of their Heav- 
enly Father, even those blessings which are tem- 
poral and earthly. But they do not let the love for 
the gift take their heart away from Him who has 
given it. Therefore, when the hour comes in which 
God calls them aw^ay from these temporal blessings 
to those that are eternal, they are willing to leave the 
earth with all that is dearest upon it to go to Him 
who is far dearer to them than all earthly blessings. 
These, therefore, die in the love of God, and thus in 
the Lord. With a heart of confiding faith and ten- 
der love they depart this life. These are the dead of 
whom we may say that they die in the Lord and are 
blessed. And now from her life and confession we 
may also say of this departed sister, she died in the 
Lord. For when I spoke to her upon her death-bed, 
she found rest and peace in Christ only; she con- 
fessed herself a sinner, but looked to the Savior as 
her refuge; even in her pain and weakness she thanked 



212 For Middle-aged Women. 






Him for His lovingkindness. As she walked through 
the valley of the shadow of death she feared no evil, 
for the Lord was her comfort and strength. There- 
fore, we may even amid tears cry out triumphantly: 
''Blessed is she for she died in the Lord.'' Ah, be- 
loved, think of what it means to be blessed thus by 
God Himself! God means not an ordinary blessing 
when He pronounces those blessed who die in the 
Lord. What he means is explained in our text; 
"Yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their 
labors and their works do follow them." 

First, then, their blessedness consists in resting 
from their labors. They need not raise the hand of 
toil through a weary life, they need no longer eat 
their bread in the sweat of their brow. They rest; 
rest from all worry and trouble, all tiresome labor 
of body and mind. There is now for them no more 
battling against reverses of fortune, no distress in 
sickness, no pain, no offended feeling, no inward un- 
speakable grief. From all this labor of trouble, of 
fighting, of pain she is now free, forever with the 
Lord, she is now forever ''where the wicked cease 
from troubling and the weary are at rest." Far away, 
forever separated from this wicked and false world, 
resting now in the arms of Him who loved her unto 
death. No power of earth or hell can wrest her from 
Him. As she was a few years ago an earthly bride, 
she is now eternally a heavenly bride. Blessed is 
she, for she is at rest. 

Our text goes on to say: "And their works do fol- 
low them,'' The w^orks of the Christian do not go 



Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. 213 

before and buy them Heaven, but follow after them, 
after they have entered Heaven on the merit of 
Christ. Then Christ rewards the smallest works of 
his beloved. Indeed, the Christian will be surprised 
that God should think of rewarding them who have 
come so far short of what they ought to have been. 
But Christ will mention all their good works before 
all the angels and saints. Then Christ will make good 
His promise: "Your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 
The few simple services of Christians may seem very 
insignificant to themselves, but they are highly val- 
ued by their Savior. Let us not think lightly of a 
Christian's good works. Christ shall repay them by 
rewards eternal and glorious beyond compare. Nq 
good work that is done as service to the Lord will 
remain unrewarded. And so we may also say of this 
sister, "Her works do follow her." These works may 
have seemed to her not worth the mention, yea, she, 
perhaps, saw nothing in them but her own weakness 
and sinfulness, but Christ notices the use she made 
of that special gift He had bestowed upon her. He 
considered her quiet, faithful attendance upon her 
household duties, her care for her child, and her en- 
deavors to teach him to pray to that Savior who had 
cleansed him in Baptism. And now all these works 
are repaid far beyond all that she expected or that we 
can conceive. Indeed, here death has not gained 
a victory, but Christ, who won and purchased her 
from death, has been victorious. 

Let us, therefore, no longer think of her as of one 
that has gone forever, but let us think of her as of 



214 



For Middle-aged Women. 



one whom we shall see in that blessed condition 
which we have just described. What no eye hath 
seen, and no ear hath heard, neither has entered into 
the heart for man, that is hers forever. 

Think not of her but in this way that you say: 
*'Blessed is she for she died in the Lord, she is rest- 
ing from her labors, and her works do follow her.'' 
May God strengthen and comfort you through this 
His word. Amen! 



FOR ELDERLY MEN AND WOMEN. 

XXXVI. 
ADDRESS. 

Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old 
age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to 
his people. Genesis 25:8. 

The patriarch Abraham had led a most eventful 
Hfe. Called by God from out of his fatherland and 
from his kindred and from his father's house, he had 
heeded the divine summons and entered upon a pil- 
grimage that was not soon ended. Though the car- 
rier of the promise that in his seed all nations of 
the earth should be blessed, this favor of God did not 
shield him from the envy of the foe, from the sor- 
row of affliction, from the fire of temptation, and from 
the anxiety of waiting for the fulfillment of the prom- 
ise. Endangered without by the enemy, harassed 

within bv unbelief and unthankfulness in his own 

ml 

household, chastened by God in severe trial, he fin- 
ally triumphed over all seemingly adverse circum- 
stances and was privileged to see, with his own eyes, 
the gracious outworking of the promise by which 
he had been wondrously led. Thus he became a shin- 
ing example of implicit faith in the word of his God, 
a pattern set for our imitation. After such a life the 
words of our text are fraught with a meaning that 
lies deeper than the surface. 



216 For Elderly Men and Wonieri. 

Still, he was but a man, the father of the faithful; 
and the mercy of God that made him what he was, 
is still powerful to the xaising up of children unto 
Abraham, sons and daughters of whom we know it 
can be said even as it was said of Abraham that he 
gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an 
old man, and full of years; and he was gathered to 
his people. 

Indeed, we have every confidence that our departed 
brother was such a one. May this thought comfort 
us; that, like Abraham, he has been gathered to his 
people. 

Though the life of every Christian is wonderful, 
even that of the youngest baptized babe whose spirit 
wings its way from its mother's arms, in showing the 
amazing abundance of God's grace, most wonderful 
and varied must be the life of that Christian, though 
the humblest among the lowly, whose head was 
bleached by the sun and wind of many a summer's 
calm and of winter's storm. Such a one can tell, with 
Abraham, of battles won and of victories lost, of 
temptations from without, of evil promptings from 
within, of trials from above. He may not, like Abra- 
ham, have been literally called out from a land of 
idolatry, and have been bidden to rear his altar in a 
foreign land ; but, spiritually, he sets out and departs 
no less truly than did Abraham of old. When, through 
the working of the Spirit in baptism or in the Word, 
faith is planted in his heart, and he becomes a child 
of God, he leaves the land of darkness, the kingdom 
of sin, and is most certainly brought forth into an- 



Address. 217 

other field of action, into the kingdom of light. And, 
then too, every day is to witness anew a turning the 
back upon weakness and sin, and a going forward in 
strength and holiness. In conversion and sanctifica- 
tion the Christian most liberally heeds the voice of 
God, calling him to be up and away from the father- 
land of sinfulness in which he was, and from the kin- 
ship of iniquity that was his by birth. 

Of such a calHng and going out, our venerable 
brother had ample experience, and we, who are fel- 
low-pilgrims with him, have had every token that 
his heeding, the call of God, was not the transient 
enthusiasm of the time-believer, but was the abiding 
grace of the Holy Spirit, leading and directing him 
to the end. 

Just as little as from the life of Abraham is trial 
and tribulation wanting in the pilgrimage of the Chris- 
tian to-day. His is not a path leading through pleas- 
ant groves and beside babbling brooks. True, times 
of enjoyment are not always denied him; but neither 
is he spared the trudging through the desert and the 
camping in the wilderness. The world in which he 
lives, has no sympathy for the calHng that he has fol- 
lowed and rather throws every obstacle in the way 
to hinder him ; like Abraham, he must groan under 
the inflictions that they of his own household, per- 
haps, they who are nearest and dearest to him after 
the flesh, as well as they who are brethren after the 
spirit, knowingly or unknowingly, lay upon him. 
Yea, it even comes to pass that God Himself must 
needs add to his tribulation by tempting and trying 



218 For Elderly Men and Women. 

him. God's gracious presence is, perhaps, withdrawn, 
or His ways are so dark and mysterious as to try 
to the utmost the confidence with which the beUeving 
heart cHngs to the promises that have been given. 
Abraham is called upon to prepare for the sacrificing 
of the beloved son of promise; Jacob laments for 
long years the supposed death of the child of his 
bosom; David had to flee from the city where the 
Lord had promised to establish his throne. It is true, 
much of this heartburning is due tO' the sinfulness 
that still remains even in the best of the children of 
Abraham and must be purged out by the fi.re of af- 
fliction. The murmurings of the heart must be 
checked as rebellion on the part of the old Adam 
against the good purposes and providences of God. 

After such a life we may say of our departed broth- 
er in the words of our text: ''Died in a good old age, 
an old man and full of years." His life did not meas- 
ure the full span of the earthly pilgrimage accorded 
to Abraham — 175 years; but the silver locks and 
furrowed brow give sign of many a day, many a year 
spent, we hope, in doing the Master's work. An 
old man, full of years, he died in a good old age — good 
in more senses than one: good, through the mercy of 
God, in its affording am.ple opportunity for finding 
the Savior; good, for its many occasions to show forth 
the praises of Him who had called him out of dark- 
ness into His marvelous light; good, in its blessed 
communion with a gracious Redeemer; good, in its 
laying up treasures where moth cannot corrupt, nor 
thieves break through and steal away. Such a life is 



Address. 219 

good since it is hallowed by faith in Him who died 
to fulfill what we could not do and whose cloak of 
perfect righteousness makes all our doing acceptable 
in the sight of God. 

When of such a man it is said, ''he gave up the 
ghost/' the words have more than their ordinary mean- 
ing. Does there not lie in them the idea of a peaceful 
giving over, a willing surrender of life? To a sinner 
alive to the enormity of his wrong-doing, there can 
be no hour more dreadful than the hour of his death 
When the conscience is aroused, then the horrors 
of death are the very foretaste of the agonies of hell 
to the sinner that has no refuge from the impending 
doom. Yea, even the flesh of the Christian shrinks 
from the conflict that the hour of death may bring on; 
but the believer knows that death has no real terror 
for him. Its vSting is gone; it is not the entrance into 
everlasting doom, but the bidding farewell to the 
trials and ills of this world and the entering into the 
mansions prepared above. Little wonder, then, that 
he gives up the ghost, willingly consigns his soul into 
the loving hands of his Father, and gladly lays him- 
self down, after years of labor, for the refreshing sleep 
that will prepare him. for the dawning of the resurrec- 
tion morn. 

In the meanwhile, he is gathered to his people. The 
body is laid to rest in the silent city of the dead, to 
sleep in slumber which no power of man can break. 
In all its frailty and imperfection, it is sunk into the 
earth, to come forth on the latter day by the almighty 
power of Him who will make it like unto His ow^n 



220 For Elderly Men and Women. 

glorious body. And the soul has left, for a time, the 
tenement of flesh, and is safe in the hands of him from 
whom it came. Truly, such a one has been gath- 
ered to his people — to the number of those who await 
with gladness the coming of the day of life. Then 
with glorified body he will go forth to join in the glad 
song around the throne of the Lamb. Oh, happy 
all who thus, as children of Abraham, can be gathered 
to their people! We may weep that a loved one is 
taken from us, but we brush away those tears at the 
thought of the blessed end. Only, let us make sure 
that, when the summons comes to us, we, too, may 
be ready to be gathered unto the host of saints. 



XXXVII. 
I WILL LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE. 

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, 
Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8. 

In the figurative language of Scripture, ^'darkness" 
frequently means the night and inactivity of the grave. 
The day is the time of life, the time of activity and 
work. Within this time must be made all man's en- 
deavors to work out his destiny; within this period 
is given him every opportunity to labor faithfully in 
the vineyard of the Lord and to be diligent about his 
Master's business. That time past, there is no prom- 
ise of further chance to make good mistakes and 
seize neglected opportunities. When death has once 
put an end to this span of years — at best, three score 



1 will lay me down in Peace. 221 

years and ten — the night has come when, willingly 
or unwillingly, the laborer must lay aside his tools 
and betake himself to his abode. 

The rest afforded by the night is sweet and refresh- 
ing to him who has labored with good will and might 
during the day. The sleep of the night of death 
should be grateful to the weary toiler in life's field. 
Only the Christian, however, can join in the evening 
hymn of the Psalmist when entering upon the rest 
of the grave: 'T will both lay me down in peace, and 
sleep: for thou, Lord^ only makest me dwell in safety." 

Why is this so? 

1. Because only the Christian Hes down in peace. 

2. Because he alone sleeps in safety. 

I. 

No matter how w"eary the body and racked the 
brain, the night brings no surcease from the pangs of 
an accusing conscience, and the darkness cannot hide 
from the search of the avenging Judge. Says the 
Psalmist: ''All the night make I my bed to swim; I 
water my couch with my tears.'' Ps. 6 :6. The sin- 
ful heart of the natural man can never have true peace, 
for it must ever be in dread of the wrath that must 
smite it for its iniquity. True, there are thousands 
and millions that live on apparently well at ease. No 
foreboding ruffles the calm serenity of their way, and 
they exist without an indication of alarm at an im- 
pending doom. To man, they, too, appear to lie down 
in peace. Yet is there peace? To be standing upon 
the thin crust of earth that hides the mouth of the 



222 



ITor Elderly Men and Women. 



burning mountain, to be blind and not see the fien 
tongues leaping from every crevice, to be deaf and 
not hear the rumbling of the threatening outbreak, 
to be dull and not feel the quaking of the earth be- 
neath him — who would envy the foolish traveler his 
perilous footing? Would his be peace, despite his 
feeling of security? Had he but eyes to see, ears to 
hear, nerves to feel, he should tremble at the fate, 
threatening to overwhelm him. Destruction will 
break upon him though he sees it not. So the sin- 
ner may put out the light of the spiritual eye and 
deaden the voice of the warning conscience so as to 
see no danger and hear no voice bidding him beware. 
With Dives of old he may fare sumptuously every 
day and be clad in purple and fine linen, yea, in the 
hour of death, may lay himself down and leave the 
world with stoic indifference. All this may seem to 
be peace, but it is far from the peace given the sons 
of God. It is the veriest sham, deceiving the eye, to 
be harshly torn aside at the last moment by the awak- 
ing conscience or to be pierced to the inmost by the 
all searching eye of God. From such peace may we 
be delivered. 

But there is a peace that passeth all understanding, 
a peace reserved for the children of God. Only he 
who is indeed conscious of his sin and shortcoming, 
and of the punishment that must follow in the wake 
of sin, but who knows at the same time, though his 
sins were as scarlet tliey shall be white as snow, 
though they be red like crimson, they shall be white 
as wool, only he can really lay him down in peace 



I will lay me down in Peace. 223 

and sleep. Not that life will be for him all sunshine ; 
the world will lose, for him, many of those attractions 
that seem to the worldling essential to the enjoying 
of life. He has many a cross to bear of which his un- 
believing neighbor knows nothing. In fact, more 
than the ordinary share of trouble may fall to his 
lot, and it may well be, that the peace which is m.ost 
surely his, is not so much a matter of experience and 
feeling, as a matter of faith. Yet though that faith 
be weak and faltering, it can and should command, 
even in the most troublous times, help, and peace of 
its God, by which the waves of the driving tempest 
can be stilled, even as of old, when the winds fell and 
the weaves became calm at the voice of their Lord. 
And when the last great struggle is upon him, and 
Satan seeks to smite him with the terrors of death, 
his weak flesh may fear and falter, but even then he 
can lay him down in peace; for that which stilled the 
waters of life's stormy sea, can make for him in death 
a haven of rest. For even in the grave he sleeps in 
safety. 

11. 
What is, after all, the source of all unquietness? Is 
it not a lurking fear that men cannot dwell in safety : 
that plans will miscarry, hopes be found vain, in the 
end every fond ambition thwarted, and man driven 
by irresistible fate whither he would not go? He sees 
how changing and unstable is everything around him, 
so that there is nothing on which he can ground his 
hopes in the calm assurance that they can never be 
moved. Restless and uncertain, doomed to succumb 



224 For Elderly Men and Women. 

to the fate that he despises or fears, even as a chip 
tossed upon the billows — such is every one whose 
trust is rested upon anything that he finds in this 
world, within or without himself. Only he who can 
say with the Psalmist: 'Tor thou, Lord, only makest 
me dwell in safety,'- has found a safe and unshaken 
foundation and a sure protection. 

The Lord only, is his stay — not strength of arm, 
not power of mind, not might of gold, not influence 
and honor among men, not self-elected works and 
holiness that men admire. All these would avail him 
nothing in the dangers by which he is beset. As long 
as sin rules over him in its power and effects, man 
cannot dwell in safety. Then, his every thought, and 
word and deed, is bringing nearer the fate of eternal 
damnation, and every twitch of pain, every blow of 
misfortune is but the forerunner of that anguish and 
torment that will not know ceasing forever. Against 
the power and guilt of sin there can avail nothing but 
the blood of Him who was made sin for us and bore 
our stripes in His own body on the cross. They who 
share in this redemption, are saved from the might 
of sin. Through faith in this Savior, they have be- 
come children of the heavenly Father whose watch- 
ful eye is ever upon them to keep them from all harm. 
In this life, all things must work together for their 
good. When the day is gone and the time for sleep 
has come it is, again, thou, O Lord, who makest 
them dwell in safety. Even then, though it appears 
as if death, at least, still has power over them, this 
is but seeming. The sting, the power of death is gone; 



Cast me not off in Time of old Age. 225 

the grave is not the entrance into torment; death 
has become but a sleep into which the son of God 
can enter with the evening blessing: ''I will both lay 
me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, makest 
me dwell in safety." 

Ah, happy sleep ! After the heat and toil of the day, 
how eagerly the body yearns for the cool evening 
and refreshing sleep! In the morning, weariness is 
gone and strength has come again. But how much 
more glorious, the sleep of death ! From it all those, 
whose names are written in the book of life, go forth 
in glorified bodies, without spot or wrinkle or any 
such thing, woithy to take their place with cherubim 
and seraphim around the throne of God, and to sing 
praises forever to the Lamb that was slain for the 
cleansing away of the sin of the world. Ah, well could 
the apostle say: '^For me to die is gain.'' 

May it be so with us. Let us with believing hearts 
lay ourselves down in peace and sleep, knowing that 
our Lord maketh us dwell in safety. Then it is well 
with us. If we are called to-day, if we are called to- 
morrow, we shall not dread the sleep that brings such 
a glad awakening. 



XXXVIIL 
CAST ME NOT OFF IN TIME OF OLD AGE. 

Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not 
when my strength falleth. Psalm 71:9. 

Scripture, in more than one place, speaks of old 
age as worthy of much esteem and respect. *Thou 



226 



For Elderly Men and Women. 



shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the 
face of the holy man, and fear thy God" is a command 
given by the Lord through Moses in connection with 
some of the most important revelations of His will. 
It is, therefore, thoroughly Biblical for our catechism 
to include aged persons under the parents whom we 
are to honor, according to the Fourth Commandment. 
And when gray hairs are joined with wisdom, and are 
the signs of years well spent as a father and a brother 
in the Church, of years full of victories over sin and 
Satan and of good wrought in the fear of God, then 
old age is worthy of double honor. We should deem 
it a high duty and privilege to cherish with fondest 
love those whose hfe's work is about done. Yea, 
more; by their example we should be urged on to 
trace our steps so, that ours, too, if the Lord will, 
may be an old age to merit the esteem of the young 
and to serve as an example to those over whom we 
shall be placed as fathers. 

This time of life, the Psalmist views as fraught 
with ever increasing dangers, for he prays in our text: 
Cast me not off in the time of old age : forsake me not 
when my strength faileth." This prayer, no doubt, 
our beloved father in the Lord uttered many a time 
when the weight of years was pressing upon him, 
and he saw the snares that Satan was laying for him 
to cause his feet to stumble even at the brink of the 
grave. We have every reason to believe that this 
prayer v/as answered and that our beloved one was 
preserved to the very end, so that in him we may 
see the blessed efficacy of such prayer, 



Cast me not off in Time of old Age. 227 

Let US seize the opportunity given us to-day to 
learn 

i) What such a prayer means. 

2) How it will be answered. 



Though strength in the Spirit and in faith is not 
necessarily joined with robustness of body and vigor 
of mind, it cannot be denied that that period of life 
in which the forces of the body begin to fail and the 
powers of the mind to grow sluggish, has its peculiar 
and dangerous temptations. While the possession of 
unimpaired vigor of body and mind, has its own 
dangers for the spiritual life, it is but natural for man 
to pray for special grace and for special strength to 
overcome temptation during the infirmities of ad- 
vanced years coming upon him without sad and pen- 
sive feelings? Who, if it were left to his own choice, 
would wish to be an old man, to enter that stage of 
life in which the forerunners of death, infirmities and 
sicknesses of all kinds, are wont to be more numer- 
ous and more importunate? 

That pain of body has its reflex action upon the 
tone and state of the soul, no one with the least ex- 
perience will think of denying. However, not only 
experience but also Holy Writ proves that Satan is 
quick to seize times of sufifering for the laying of his 
own snares. When in affliction, Job was counseled 
by false friends to curse God and die. Lot, and Asa 
and Solomon were entrapped by the foe when old 
age came upon them. Discontent with one's lot, mur- 



228 Pot Elderly Men and Women. 

muring against the doings of God, looking to the 
things of this world for solace and comfort has often 
disgraced the old age of such as manfully withstood 
the temptations of youth. 

It is often during this period of life that the ties by 
which a man is bound to earth, instead of moldering 
away and leaving him free, as it were, to fly to a 
better world, become stronger and more binding.. 
The knowledge that all these things, the use and en- 
joyment of which is not forbidden the Christian, will 
soon have to be laid aside, gives them an attraction, 
a drawing and binding power, that they did not be- 
fore exert. Bonds of relationship become more firm- 
ly knit : an old man will frequently watch with greatest 
anxiousness, the development of a beloved grand- 
child. The love of money and possession grows 
stronger, so that, in consequence, instead of welcom- 
ing the messenger of death, age seeks to evade him, 
and by keeping the eyes fixed on this nether world, 
loses sight of the heaven above to which our longing 
gaze should be directed. 

Of these dangers threatening him in the path 
nearest the grave, the Psalmist knew and, therefore, 
prays in the words of our text: ''Cast me not ofif in 
time of old age; forsake me not when my strength 
faileth.'' Do not grow weary of my waywardness and 
foolish clinging to things here below ; do not, at last, 
give me over into the power of a foe whose snares 
are entrapping my feet. 

11. 
What lesson have these words for even the young? 



Cast me not off in Time of old Age. 229 

To be able to pray as the Psalmist does we must 
make sure that the Lord is with us long before old 
age comes upon us; w'e must make sure that the Lord 
is with us now and will abide. He wants to be with 
us and help us not only at certain periods in our 
lives; at all times and in all seasons He would be our 
God. Yea, even more: the Lord has a right to de- 
mand that our whole service be consecrated to Him. 
We are His, His handiwork, and all that we have is 
but the outpouring of His bounty. It is not for us to 
decide how many years of our lives shall be devoted 
to the business of this world, without regard for the 
requirements of God's Law, and then, after our 
strength is spent, make up our minds to return to our 
Father as the prodigal son and spend the evening of 
life in making our peace with God. Alas, how many 
that had thus mapped out their course, found out 
too late how fatal had been their miscalculation. The 
years that they had counted upon so confidently were 
not given them, and long before the day of life had 
reached its evening, they were hurried away, perhaps 
even suddenly and without warning! To-day, to- 
morrow may be the time when one or more of us will 
be summoned hence to stand account before our 
Judge. Woe, woe to him who is thus carried ofif be- 
fore he has found his God and his Redeemer! Now, 
now, is the accepted time, oh! why will you tarry? 
To-day, if you hear the voice of the Spirit, harden 
not your hearts, for it is the call of God, bidding you 
to take heed. 

When He, the Spirit, has done His work upon the 



230 '^ov Elderly Men and Women. 

heart, you must feel that even if we could spend every 
moment of our life in the service of our God, if our 
every breath could sound forth His praise, we had 
not begun to pay the debt of gratitude we owe Him. 
Eternity will be none too long to sing the wonders of 
His love towards us. To the natural man, the pros- 
pects offered by Christian life are not such as to in- 
vite him to do as the Savior bids: ''Take up thy cross 
and follow me.'' But when the blind eyes are opened, 
then we can see that though we must through much 
tribulation enter into the kingdom of heaven, there is 
a peace and a glory even in the direst tribulation that 
makes His yoke easy and His burden light. Then 
will we pray with the Psalmist, and when the evening 
of life comes with its weakness, the Lord will not for- 
sake. 

That must be a glorious sunset of life, when the an- 
gels of God, stand guard to warn off every danger! 
Blessed is he who thus closes his weary eyes and 
falls asleep in the arms of his Savior. May ours be 
such an end. 



XXXIX. 
WITH HIS STRIPES ARE WE HEALED. 

With his stripes we are healed. Isa. 53:5. 

'T determined not to know anything among 
you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.'' The 
subject of all Christian preaching and the es- 
sence of all Christian knowledge is Jesus Christ cruci- 
fied. Jesus Christ occupies the Christian's heart and 



With His Stripes are we Healed. 231 

mind. The happiness of our lives we owe to Him 
who was crucified for us, and in the day of trouble 
WQ hasten to place ourselves under the cross. To- 
day, as always, but particularly to-day, beloved 
mourners, as your souls are uttering grievous lamen- 
tations and your hearts are bleeding from the cruel 
wounds inflicted by the hard hand of death, look up 
to your bleeding, dying Savior. I am determined 
not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ 
and Him crucified. For I know that He alone, and 
He surely, can heal you to-day. For with His stripes 
are we healed. He heals the wounds 

i) Of sin, 

2) Of affliction, and 

3) Of death. ' 

I. 

Behold your crucified Lord! His sorrow and grief! 

Stricken by men, smitten by God ! His body and soul 
full of wounds and bruises and stripes! And with 
His stripes we are healed. 

Sin has wounded all men. They were conceived 
in sin, they daily commit sin. It is a fatal wound and 
causes agonizing pain. He who is dead in sins feels 
little of it, but he will yet feel it and know it. When 
the conscience feels the wound of sin, it roars: 'Thine 
arrows stick fast in me. My wounds stink and are 
corrupt because of my foolishness. There is no sound- 
ness in my flesh because of thine anger.'' The wound 
of sin smarts and burns as with the fire of the infer- 
nal lake. 



232 For Elderly Men and Women. 

Unless this wound be healed, no word of comfort 
may be spoken on earth; no word of comfort would 
be heeded by the wounded one. But with His stripes 
are we healed. For ''He was wounded for our trans- 
gressions, He was bruised for our iniquities." Our 
sins were laid on Him and their poison was poured 
out in His stripes. Smitten by the law. He gained 
a perfect righteousness for us ; wounded by His Fath- 
er's wrath, He reconciled Him to us; the stripes of 
Him who was bruised for our iniquities proclaim the 
forgiveness of sin. These stripes yield the balm which 
heals the wound of sin. When a wound is healed, 
it has disappeared, and our sin is taken away by the 
blood of Jesus. As soon as we put our trust in the 
stripes of Jesus as inflicted on Him for our sin, the 
accusing voice is hushed; we stand before God as 
just men; we behold His gracious countenance. 

We need at all times the certain knowledge that 
our sins are forgiven, and you need it to-day. Let 
not Satan re-open the wound by causing you to 
doubt in your affliction the grace of God and your 
salvation by Jesus. If He, indeed, turned from you 
now, you were lost. Stand firm and say: ''With His 
stripes we are healed." God cannot turn from those 
whose sins are forgiven. The bliss resulting from this 
knowledge will uphold you in the present distress. 
Do you believe that with the stripes of Jesus you 
are healed from sin? Then you may say: 'T am sorely 
afflicted, but bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that 
is within me, bless His holy name: who forgiveth all 
thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases." 



With His Stripes are we Healed. 233 

So a Christian rejoices even in sore affliction. But 
behold, the stripes of Jesus, yielding forgiveness of 
sin, thereby also heal the wound of affliction. 

II. 

In affliction the unbeliever cannot drown the voice* 
"The Lord has begun to punish my sin and woe i« 
me, when the full measure of stripes is meted out.'' 
It is not the loss itself which pains so much; but sin 
is the poison, which makes the wound so sore and 
festering. Affliction to him is a rod in the hand of 
an angry Lord which cuts to the quick. 

But with His stripes are we healed. His stripes, 
inflicted for our sin and inflamed with the fever of 
the sense of the Lord's displeasure, assure us that 
God cannot be punishing us for our sins, tor the vials 
of his wrath have been emptied on Jesus. They take 
trom our stripes the painful sting. They transform 
them into a father's chastisement, which warns us : 
Cleave not unto any earthly thing, admonishes us: 
Be prepared for your death, invites us: Come to my 
arms and rest in my love. God loves us dearly, for 
did He not smite His dear Son for our sakes? The 
stripes of Jesus thus yield the soothing balm of the 
knov/ledge of our Father's love. When we know that 
God is not angry at us, but in His great love is cor- 
recting us, and ever ready to caress us, the wound 
of affliction must heal: and that the stripes of Jesus 
tell us. 

In the life of our departed sister there was much 
labor and sorrow. She suffered much in her last 
long illness. Her enforced absence from public wor- 



234 For Elderly Men and Women. 

ship and her inability to minister to her beloved ones 
weighed heavily upon her. It was a heavy cross, but 
it did not wound her. Confident that Jesus had bornt 
her affliction, she trusted that her Father was not 
afflicting her in wrath, and Jesus' love soothed her in 
those days of trouble. 

God has suffered a great affliction to fall upon you 
now. Are your hearts wounded? Apply the healing 
blood of jesus Christ. Thank God that this iron has 
not entered into your souls: the fear that God has 
smitten you in His sore displeasure. It must be an 
unspeakable comfort to you to know that the Lord 
chasteneth those whom He loveth, that He is now 
waiting for you to cast yourselves in your loneliness 
upon Him. Do so and you shall hear sweet vv^ords: 
Why weepest thou? I am with thee! And with 
me is she who was taken from you in death. She is 
not dead, but liveth ! 

With His stripes the wound of death is healed. 

HI. 

This is the fatal wound: death itself. The natural 
man is spiritually dead, and the temporal death hurls 
him into the horrors of eternal death. 

But with His stripes are we healed. Jesus, bear- 
ing our sins, taketh away the penalty of sin, death. 
When death violently smote Him, it forfeited its 
power over us. Hearing the vow of Christ: ''O death, 
I will be thy plagues, O grave, I will be thy destruc- 
tion," we shout in faith : ''O death, where is thy sting? 
O grave, where is thy victory?" We are healed from 
the dread disease of death, which finally assumes the 



With His Stripes are we Healed. 235 

virulent form of damnation, by the death of Him 
who suffered for us the agonies on the cross. Trans- 
fusion of blood may save in a hopeless case: the blood 
of Jesus, appropriated by faith, performs this miracle: 
death, damnation, must yield its prey, spiritually 
alive we look forward to eternal life. Death cannot 
destroy us : we need not fear even temporal death, for 
beyond it there is life. Will it not wound and hurt? 
Aye, it is the wondrous operation by means of which, 
by one cut, though we wince under it, our living- 
Physician restores us to perfect health. 

We thank God to-day that our dear mother has 
been kept in the faith in which she lived unto her end; 
that in the wounds of Jesus she calmly fell asleep; 
that dying she is now fully healed with His stripes. 

The stripes of Jesus, upholding your faith, will be 
your safeguard against the deadly breath of death, 
hopeless sorrow. The stripes of Jesus have gained 
for you the life eternal, and as I trust that your hope 
is based on the death of your Savior, this hope, this 
blessed prospect of once seeing God as He is and see- 
ing again your dear wife and mother as she now is, 
will comfort you in your sorrow. Your hearts are 
now heavy and sick unto death: there is life in the 
stripes of Jesus! The stripes of Jesus give righteous- 
ness for sin, joy for sorrow, life for death. And in 
that dread hour of death, lest we be undone by the 
fear of death and eternal punishment for our sins, 
Jet us look to Jesus Christ crucified and cry to Him; 

''Be thou m^y consolation 
And shield when I must die. 



236 For Elderly Men and Women. 

Let me behold Thy passion, 
When my last hour draws nigh. 
My dim eyes then shall see Thee, 
Upon Thy cross shall dwell, 
My heart by faith enfold Thee — 
Who dieth thus, dies well/' Amen. 



XL. 

THE KINDLY OFFICES OF THE THREE 

CARDINAL CHRISTIAN VIRTUES AT 

THE BURIAL OF CHRISTIANS* 

Now there abideth faith, hope, charity, these three: "but 
the greatest of these is charity. 1 Cor. 13:13. 

A strange succession of events has brought me to 
this place twice within the brief space af two years 
on an errand of comfort to your pastor. We wept 
here two years ago at the bier of the pastor's wife, 
and said in humble faith : 'Thy will be done.'' We 
have come here to-day to weep at the bier of the pas- 
tor's only child. The parsonage is now stripped of 
the last earthly element of joy to its lone occupant, 
who will return to it weary and worn. The last years 
have been marked for him by such losses as to cause 
him to ask : ''What have I yet remaining me of any 
value in this life?'' 

In the chapter from w^hich our text has been taken, 
St. Paul speaks of the transition to which all things 
earthly are subject. There are in this world great 
and sad failures; in fact, nothing is stable. The high- 
est accomplishments of the human mind end in ruin: 



Kindly Offices of Cardinal Christian "Virtues. 237 

prophecies fail, tongues cease, knowledge vanishes^ 
away. Man himself is at any moment in his life but 
the product of changes in the past. He grows into 
mature manhood at the sacrifice of the delights of his 
early days. The wisdom and repose of mind which 
characterize his old age is bought at the price of many 
a painful experience and loss during his years of 
vigor. During those critical moments when our 
losses are keenly felt, and the issues of the future 
are still unrevealed, the heart cries out in anguish* 
*'What is there left me in this life to live and labor 
for?'' 

Out of such gloom the apostle points a way, when 
he says: ''Now we see through a glass, darkly; but 
then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall 
I know even as also I am known;'' and then goes on 
to say: "And now abideth,'' etc. Plainly, then, our 
text admits of an application, such as shall bring 
comfort to our heart in the hour of painful losses. 
There are great treasures remaining for the Christian 
even after he has made an Abraham's offering to the 
Lord of his dearest carthlv treasure. 

Allow me to speak to you, accordingly, of The 
Kindly Offices of the Three Cardinal Christian Vir- 
tues at the Burial of Christians : 

i) The office of faith ; 

2) The office of hope ; 

3) The office of charity, or love. 

It is of the essence of faith to be reassured and 
confiding even when there §eenis to be no reason 



238 For Elderly Men and Women. 

for such trustfulness. That this world sprang forth 
out of chaos, and that every event within it, from the 
darkening of the sun's disk in an eclipse to the fad- 
ing of a primrose by the wayside, is in accordance 
with a will and law higher than ours, is a matter of 
faith. We accept the rulings of Providence through- 
out the universe, and defend their wise and good 
design against the doubting skeptic, w^hose terrible 
god is the idol of chance. With the Christian there 
is no chance. Faith forbids such a thought. 

That a world full of sinners and justly cursed by a 
righteous God had an atonement prepared by the 
same God,- who even was at such pains in their behalf 
as to give over His only begotten Son into death in 
order that sinners might live — that is a matter of 
faith. We accept this wonderful ruling of Mercy on 
our case, and defend its validity even in the shadow 
of death. With Christians a penitent sinner's death 
is not a death. Faith compels them to view the hour 
of earthly departure as the Christian martyrs viewed 
it two thousand years ago, viz.: the birth-hour of a 
new life, a life eternal. 

That a human heart, naturally treacherous and in- 
curably wicked, can be so reformed by God, as to love 
what it formerly hated and to hate what it formerly 
loved — that is a matter of faith. We accept this rul- 
ing of Grace, and verify it in our owm lives, which 
are what they are by this regenerating, renewing 
grace. With Christians nothing is impossible; they 
can do all things in the pow^r of Christ, hope all 
things, bear all things. 



Kindly Oflices of Cardinal Christian Virtues. 239 

Faith yields you its kindly office, dear father, in this 
hour of sadness. It points out to you that the fright- 
ful work of death which you view in this coffin is 
really the work of Providence. It reminds you that 
this child of yours is embraced in the eternal counsels 
of Divine Mercy. It invites you to behold a child of 
God which has just been ushered from sanctification 
into glorification. Would you not contradict the Spir- 
it in your own heart, if you refused to say: ''It is the 
Lord: He hath done what hath seemed good unto 
Him?'^ 

Have you not often observed, while your child was 
still living, that the grace of God was busy about her 
in a peculiar manner? How sensitive was she of any 
wrong in thought or action! How humble and de- 
voted to her Savior! She had made the foot of her 
Redeemer's cross the favorite place to which she 
would retire in her frequent meditations. And how 
gentle and loving she was toward all! There was no 
guile in her heart and no malice on her lips. Her 
memory will be ever green among us as that of a 
child of grace, loving the Redeemer and beloved by 
Him. Her death is but another of those mysterious 
acts of grace which you have so often observed with 
silent wonder and gratitude. You believed then that 
the Lord was with your child, and you will also be- 
lieve now that her lines are fallen in pleasant places. 
Now abideth faith : from this coffin you shall go forth 
again into this world of sinners, and proclaim with 
renewed conviction that there is a life after this life, 
and that God is good, though we momentarily under- 



240 For Elderly Men and Women. 

stand Him not. Far from leaving you nothing on 
earth to Hve for, God has all the more fitted you for 
most efficient service in his Church by your faith-try- 
ing experiences of the last two years. 

II. 

With Christian faith there is always mingled a 
certain joyful expectation, which calms their griefs, 
and gilds their tribulations with a marvelous beauty, 
like the cloud-reefs on which the sunlight sleeps on 
a midsummer evening, after the storm has spent its 
force. Though the outer face of things looks dark 
and threatening, there is light beyond. 

Faith grasps truths which no intellect holds, but 
hope lays hold of blessings. Hope looks ahead foi 
good results to spring from present conditions. 

All human life is stimulated by hope : its drudgery 
were unbearable, did not the Angel of Hope lend its 
aid to the plodding toilers. But human hopes are de- 
ceptive ; they often .come to nought before they are 
fully conceived. There is, however, a hope which 
perisheth not. St. Paul speaks of some wdio sorrow 
as those who have no hope. Death is, with them, the 
final catastrophe, which leaves but an aching void 
behind. Not in this manner would Paul have those 
sorrow, to whom he speaks. They may shed tears 
and express their grief, but they should do. so with 
hope. The Christian cannot view, or speak of, the 
death of a beloved one as a loss, hardly as a privation. 
He does not leave him at the grave, never to meet 
with him again. He looks forward to a reunion. This 
hope cannot fail ; for it has affixed to it the seal of 



Kindly Offices of Cardinal Christian Virtues. 241 

Jesus' own word, who has said : ''The hour cometh 
when those that are asleep in the graves shall rise/' 

To that hour you are now directed, dear friends, 
to look forward. You shall yet be privileged, if you 
remain faithful, to take your child's hand and, wdth 
her and her sainted mother, stand before the Lord, 
and praise Him, who has loved both her and you with 
a love beyond all telling. 

Thus also hope yields you its kindly office to-day. 
Hope w411 go out with us to God's Acre and lay a 
wreath of Forget-me-nots, — all the promises of our 
dear Lord — upon your child's grave, to rouse your 
faltering spirit whenever you visit it. Remember, 
where she is, you expect to be, and thither you desire 
to lead with you many sinners saved. 

HL 

Concluding the apostle says : ''But the greatest of 
these is love ;" the word charity in this chapter, name- 
ly, means love. The apostle has depicted this love in 
the preceding verses of this chapter, and has given 
prominence particularly to one of love's traits, that of 
unselfishness. Love never seeks its own interests, 
never peevishly desires the accomplishment of its own 
wishes, but lives only for the joy and cheer and hap- 
piness of others. It is willing self-surrender and self- 
denial for the sake of another. And therein lies its 
superior greatness. Such love is God-like. So God 
loved the world, — which hated Him — that He gave 
His only Son that all who believe in Him should not 
perish but have everlasting life. This love involved 



242 For li:lderly Men and Women. 

a sacrifice on God' s part : Scripture speaks of it thus : 
''God spared not His own son." 

The proper training, then, for just this virtue, which 
no man possesses by nature, and only the beginning 
of which Christians possess by grace, — the proper 
training, I say, for lo\e is by means of sacrifices. We 
love in proportion as we are willing to give up. Our 
surrenders are steps forward in the school of love. 

Now God loves at times what we love. We love our 
children ; so does God. Again, our children love what 
we love : Ave love Christ, so do our children. God de- 
clares in His Word : 'Trecious in the sight of the 
Lord is the death of his saints.'' And Christians re- 
peat the wish of the apostle : 'T have a desire to de- 
part and be with Christ.'' Now here is a dilemma 
which only love can solve. Shall God and our child 
give up their wish in our interest, or shall we give up 
our wish for the sake of Christ and our child? With- 
out a moment's hesitation a true Christian heart will 
say : ''Nay, let Christ, let my child, have their wish ; 
I yield r ' 

Love, then, my dear friends, will teach you to say 
in this hour of grief : ''Lord, gladly do I commit to 
Thy hands what Thou lovest so much better than L 
Heavenly Father, Thou hast given Thine only Son 
that I and my child might be saved, and thereby hast 
taught me to love Thee and to do as Thou hast done." 
Love will also give you strength to take leave of your 
child's earthly remains, and to say contentedly : "My 
dear child, though my heart is bleeding, yet for thy 
sake I shall be satisfied ; though I go back to silence 



Inheritance of the Saints. 243 

and solitude, yet I will rejoice in thy happiness. Fare- 
well! I had intended you for the cheer of my ad- 
vancing years, but God has picked you for a jewel in 
the Redeemer's crow^n. I love thee greatly, but be- 
cause I love thee so, I v/ill gladly yield thee to the 
Lord, and say : It is all well ; God be praised." Amen, 



XLL 

THE INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS 
IN LIGHT. 

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us 
meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in 
light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, 
and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. 
Col. 1:9, 10. 

The solemn moments when Christians linger 
around the remains of a dear sister in the faith are 
moments when heaven and earth seem to m^eet. All 
the thoughts of a Christian funeral assembly center 
around heavenly themes : heaven, Jesus the exalted, 
glory. The body of the departed, as it were, forms a 
connection bftween the saints below and the saints 
above. The^hare standing on both sides of the river 
of death. J^ iini hither side songs of victory are 
chanted, bco^-^-J-c another soul redeemed by Jesus has 
conquered the last of foes ; and these songs wake a 
conjubilant echo on yonder bank, where the saints 
made perfect welcome the newly arrived comrade, co- 
heir of grace with them., to his rest and reward. The 
church triumphant and the church militant hold gla4 



244 For Elderly Men and Women. 

reunions at the coffins and graves of believers, and 
emphasize the confession of ''One Lord, One faith, 
One baptism. One God and Father of all, who is 
above all, and through all, and in all/' Herein lies 
a great portion of the value of a public Christian fu- 
neral to those who take part in it and to those in 
whose honor such a funeral service is being conduct- 
ed : it is a parting confession, so to speak, both on the 
part of the departed and of the survivors, of that unity 
of faith which has existed among them, and which 
even death cannot destroy. 

Such an opportunity is vouchsafed us to-day. Our 
esteemed and beloved sister adds to the many bless- 
ings which the Lord has through her bestowed on 
our congregation also this final blessing, that she 
puts us into connection with heaven wdiile we consid- 
er her departure. She was one of those rare natures 
in whom the future life is foreshadowed already here. 
Refined by grace she was living away from the v/orld 
in a heavenward direction. Her speech and her 
thoughts were of heaven ; her conversation in heaven, 
as she now is according to her present mode of exist- 
ence in heaven. Such Christians we ^so are, or can 
be ; for God hath made us meet to be ^^^Vtakers of the 
inheritance of the saints in light, ^^^ ^'aul declared 
concerning himself and the believing Colossians, 
while they were still in the flesh. As a tribute to the 
memory of our departed sister, in whom divine grace 
has been so signally glorified, and for our own com- 
fort, let me now speak to you of : 



Inheritance of the Saints. 245 

THE INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS IN 

LIGHT, 

showing 

i) What it is, and 

2) How it is obtained. 

I. 

Paul here prays for the Colossians that they might 
be filled with the knowledge of God to walk worthy 
of the Lord, being fruitful in good works and 
strengthened with His might unto patience in suffer- 
ing, and then he exhorts them to ''give thanks unto 
the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers 
of the inheritance of the saints in light." What is the 
inheritance of the saints in light? This becomes clear 
to the mind if we know who the saints in light are. 
Of the New Jerusalem, the city of the blessed, St. 
John, Rev. 21., writes: 'The city had no need of the 
sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it : for the glory 
of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light there- 
of. And the nations of them which are saved shall 
w^alk in the light of it."' Those are the saints in light 
w^ho walk in the light of the New Jerusalem, and the 
dwelling in that city and the walking in the light 
thereof is the inheritance of the saints in light. The 
inheritance of the saints in light is the same as ever- 
lasting salvation; for Christ also pronounces it an 
inheritance, saying unto those on His right hand: 
"Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'' 
The inheritance of the saints in light is the joy, bliss, 



246 For Elderly Men and Women. 

happiness prepared in heaven, where the perfected 
saints see the Lamb, that was slain, face to face and 
rejoice in the lieht of His countenance. 

But to construe this text as referring only and alone 
to the perfected saints in heaven would be greatly 
misconstruing it. Saints in light are also those who 
are yet living on earth, but who have the light of life 
in them, w^ho are enlightened with the gifts of the 
Holy Ghost, who by the light of the Gospel of Christ 
see their way clear to the everlasting kingdom of light 
above ; for in the 12th chapter of John the Lord says : 
''Yet a little while is the light with you. While ye 
have light believe in the light, that ye may be the 
children of light. '^ Christ is the light and those be- 
lieving on Him are the children of light, and the chil- 
dren of light are none other than the saints in light ; 
for to the Corinthians Paul writes : ''The temple of 
God is holy, which temple ye are." The inheritance 
of the saints in light, therefore, are the spiritual, heav- 
enly gifts which the believers possess ; such as the 
in-dwelling of Christ in the heart through faith ; spir- 
itual eyes to see spiritual things spiritually ; the hope 
of eternal life, and the like. The inheritance of the 
saints in heaven and the saints on earth is in fact one 
and the same ; for their light and joy is Christ and our 
light and joy is Christ. The difference is onl}^ this : 
Those who have preceded us to heaven have come 
into the full enjoyment of the inheritance, we possess 
it through faith and rejoice over it in hope. Of this 
the apostle Peter speaks with beautiful and comfort- 
ing words when he writes : "Blessed be the God and 



Inheritance of the Saints. 247 

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to 
his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a 
Hvely hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from 
the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and unde- 
filed, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for 
you, who are kept by the power of God through faith 
unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." 
He says, God has begotten us unto the inheritance 
reserved in heaven, we are already made heirs of it, it 
is already ours, already given us, only we do not yet 
see it, we believe it and hope, that is, do not doubt 
that we will come to see it. Therefore the apostle 
here uses the past tense, saying: "The Father hath 
made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of 
the saints in light." To refer the words only to the 
future, that we will be partakers, would be an un- 
warrantable construction. The inheritance is Christ 
and His merits. The saints in heaven have Christ 
seeing Him, we have Christ believing on Him ; it is 
one and the same inheritance, wherefore the poet 
rightly says : 

The saints on earth and those above 

But one communion make ; 
Though now divided by the stream, 

The narrow stream of death. 

n. 

Knowing what the inheritance is, we must also con- 
sider. How is it obtained? Concerning this the apos- 
tle in the first place says : 'The Father hath made us 
meet to be partakers of the inheritance." So the in- 
heritance is obtained in this way that God makes us 



248 For Elderly Men and Women. 

meet to be partakers thereof. As man is by nature, 
he is not meet for the inheritance of God; he must, 
therefore, first be made meet, and what shall a man 
do to make himself meet? Ah, the Ethiopian can not 
change the color of his skin. We can not make one 
hair white or black, and if we can not even do this, it 
is certainly blindness to think we might so change 
our heart and nature as to make ourselves meet for 
the inheritance of saints. The apostle does not say : 
We have made ourselves meet, he says : 'The Father 
hath made us meet." God must make us meet or we 
remain unmeet. 

How the P^ather makes us meet the apostle states 
in the following words : ''Who hath delivered us from 
the power of darkness, and hath translated us into 
the kingdom of his dear Son.^' In this way God makes 
man meet for the inheritance of the saints in light by 
delivering him from the power of darkness and bring- | 
ing him into the kingdom of His Son. This darkness 
is sin with all its attendant evils and consequences. 
This is the first that God does to make us meet to be 
His heirs, He delivers us from sin. Yet Paul does 
not simply say : Who hath delivered us from dark- 
ness ; he says : "From the power of darkness.'' Sin is 
a power ruling over man. Not only is Satan, the king 
of darkness, a pow^erful prince, sin itself is a power in 
man. It possesses the sense, appetites, inclinations, 
so that they hate the light and crave what must dread 
the light. Sin corrupts the reason so that it judges 
falsely in divine things; it perverts the will, so that 
man does not want the light, but loves the darkness 



Inheritance of the Saints. 249 

in which he is. So the natural man is in the power of 
darkness ; it environs him on all sides like a net from 
which he can not escape or shake ofif. The natural 
man may, indeed, by his own reason and strength 
come to the conclusion to quit serving sin and to set 
out on the way to heaven, but can he in this way ex- 
tricate himself from the power of darkness? Indeed 
not ; for the darkness in his reason will cause him to 
judge falsely of the way to heaven and will lead him 
in a way which can not take him there; and though 
he labor ever so hard, he is yet in the power of dark- 
ness as well as before. You may train a nightbird as 
much as you please, you can never make it hate the 
darkness and love the sunlight, because you can not 
change its nature. The almighty God alone can do 
this. The almighty God alone can change man born 
under the power of sin, and make him a hater of sin 
and error and a lover of that which is truly pleasing 
to God, and this the almighty God does do. He 
breaks and hinders the will of the devil, the world and 
the flesh and makes him who loved the darkness and 
hated the light to hate the darkness and 'to love the 
light. God does, indeed, in this life not so deliver 
from dfirkness that nothing of darkness is left in man, 
but He delivers from the power of darkness so that 
the Christian loving the light and walking therein, is 
no more controlled by the darkness. 

With the deliverance from the power of darkness 
St. Paul closely connects the entering into the king- 
dom of light : ''And hath translated us into the king- 
dom of his dear Son." Christ is the light which the 



250 For Elderly Men and Women. 

Father has sent into the world, and His kingdom is 
the kingdom of hght. Into this kingdom of hght the 
Father translates men, drawing them to the Son, cre- 
ating in their hearts the true knowledge of Christ and 
kindling trust in and love to Christ. This mighty 
change Paul describes in these words : ''We preach 
Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and 
unto the Greeks foolishness ; but unto them which are 
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of 
God, and the wisdom of God.'' The Jews represent 
the self-righteous who, thinking Christ could help 
them nothing, look to their own works for righteous- 
ness ; the Greeks represent the worldly-minded who 
care nothing for Christ and His salvation and look on- 
ly to the treasures and pleasures of this life. But when 
the Father delivers from darkness and translates into 
the kingdom of His Son, those who before thought 
Christ could help them nothing, now see that in Him 
alone is the power to save ; and those who before 
thought it wisdom to seek after earthly things, now 
see that adhering to Christ is alone true wisdom. So 
God makes *men ''meet to be partakers of the inherit- 
ance of the saints in light," by delivering them from 
the power of darkness and translating them into the 
kingdom of Flis dear Son; for those who are in the 
kingdom of the Son, are certainly also meet to inherit 
with the Son. 

Here you might perhaps ask : How does God bring 
about this wonderful thing of making a free child of 
light out of a slave of darkness? This question may be 
asked from two different motives. If you want the 



Inheritance of the Saints. 251 

mysterious workings of God in newcreating the heart 
of man explained, I must candidly confess that I can 
not do it. 'The wind Bloweth where it listeth, and 
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell 
whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every 
one that is born of the Spirit." But the way in or the 
means through which God effects this change, our 
text indicates by the word ''inheritance.'^ An inherit- 
ance is obtained by bequest. The inheritance of the 
saints in light God has bequeathed unto us, and the 
instruments through which He confers the right and 
title thereto, are the Word and the Sacraments. In 
Baptism God adopts men as His children and heirs, 
and through the Gospel He calls men tmto this in- 
heritance and by His calling draws them unto His 
Son. 

Therefore, Fellow Christians, I am bold to apply 
the little word "us" which Paul here uses of himself 
and the Colossians, also to you and to me and to the 
departed, and to sa}^ : The Father has made us who 
are here gathered together in His name, meet to be 
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. I 
am bold to make this application and have no fear of 
making a v/rong application, although well aware 
that there are despisers at all places and hypocrites in 
all churches. But I say we, as many of us as do not 
despise our Baptism and do not turn a deaf ear to the 
Gospel, we who love this heavenly light, even we are 
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light ; for 
the Scripture saith: "He that believeth and is bap- 
tized shall be saved." Amen. 



252 F'or Elderly Men and Women. 

XLIL 

THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN A FIGHT FOR 

A CROWN. 

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I 
have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me 
a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous 
judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but 
unto all them also that love his appearance. 2 Tim. 4:7. 8. 

It is confident language which the aged apostle 
uses in this text. Some say it is a proud language, i 
Proud? Never. For, we must bear in mind that the 
speaker is the same man who confessed : ^'By the 
grace of God I am what I am ;'' the same man who 
avowed this intention : "Most gladly will I rather 
glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may 
rest upon me.'^ 

Moreover, if we examine the fight and the course 
of which St. Paul is thought to boast in this text, we 
shall at once perceive how vain the charge is. Prison 
and stripes, hunger and nakedness, scorn and hatred 
had marked the apostle's course. Tie had been made 
the ofifscouring of the world, he had been cast before 
wild animals; his name had become travestied, his 
character pilloried ; he says that he had become a fool 
to men. If, then, his present language bespeaks pride, 
it is, at least, an unearthly pride, something for which 
we should find a better name. 

These words were written to a young minister by 
the name of Timothy, whose pattern St. Paul strove 
to be. Let those who think the language of Paul in 
our text proud, read the entire Epistle in which they 



Christian Fight for a Crowil. 253 

occur, and they will find that Paul inculcates in it the 
very opposite of pride. 

. It becomes my duty to-day to speak to you from 
these words by the express wish of our departed sis- 
ter. She selected this text for her funeral, and I have 
promised her to preach from it. What a striking 
commentary on this text the wish of the departed is ! 
Our humble, modest, quiet mother K., whom we all 
have known and loved for her simple, guileless, un- 
assuming ways, whose every thought recoiled from 
pride, whose tearful confessions of her utter worth- 
lessness, I must confess it, have often covered me with 
shame in my own eyes, why should just she select 
this text? Do we not all feel instinctivelv that if this 
pearl of our congregation could choose a text like 
this, there must be in it something far different from 
pride? Yes, indeed; and now may Christ assist me 
with His Holy Spirit to the end that I may bring out 
for your instruction and comfort the true meaning of 
this wonderful text. I wish to show that 

THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN IS A FIGHT 
FOR A CROWN; 
And to describe 
i) The fight. 
• 2) The crown. 

I. 

The first records of Paul found in the Scriptures 
show him engaged in a stubborn fight and running 
a desperate course. He had set himself the mad task 
of uprooting the church of Christ. He stood by when 



254 For Elderly Men and Women. 

the blood of the first Christian martyr, Stephen, was 
spilt. He traveled great distances to vex the followers 
of Christ. Was this the fight, was this the course of 
which he speaks in our text? No, all this came to a 
sudden stop before the gates of Damascus, when the 
Lord interfered with the bigoted zeal of the apostle, 
and told him : ''It is hard for thee to kick against the 
pricks.'"' Then there came a change over Paul so un- 
paralleled that the world could not believe its ears, 
when it heard the same Paul defend the very doctrines 
which he had started to annihilate. Then began the 
fight, then the race was entered of which our text 
speaks. 

And first, it was a fight against his own flesh and 
blood. An honest man does not easily give up a con- 
viction which has been instilled in him with his moth- 
er's milk. In the seclusion of his room at Damascus, 
shut out from the light of day, by the mighty hand of 
Jesus, Paul fought his great battle. Jesus, the Savior 
of poor sinners, whose Gospel he had regarded as 
false, stood pitted in his heart against all that was 
dear to him. He had to disbelieve all that he had 
hitherto cherished. He had to acknowledge that all 
his piety and zeal for the church of the Pharisees w^as 
not only as filthy rags, but was a direct blasphemy in 
God's sight and a lie in the sight of his own aroused 
conscience. He had to renounce his friends and co- 
religionists ; he had to abjure the great synagogue; 
he had to forsake father and mother, and start out up- 
on a life the issues of which he could not foresee. He 
came out of this battle victorious ; he made it hence- 



Christian Fight for a Crown. 255 

forth his parole of honor not to be ashamed of the 
Gospel of Christ ; for it is the power of God unto sal- 
vation to every one that believeth. He started upon 
the race near the goal of which we behold him in our 
text ; for he says, he has finished the course. His life 
since the day of his conversion was a life of self-abne- 
gation. He lived no longer unto himself, but unto 
His Lord Jesus Christ. Flesh and blood were no 
longer consulted by him. 

But the battle in which he had become engaged as- 
sumed more formidable dimensions. His old friends, 
who had applauded his efforts against Christ, as vig- 
orously denounced his efforts for Christ. He was 
slandered and reviled ; his enemies met him with force 
and cunning; they frustrated his ministration wher- 
ever they could ; they raised up persecutors for him ; 
they hounded him well nigh to death. For nearly 
twenty-five years the biography of the apostle is one 
marvelous record of relentless persecution. 

Nor was this all. God also laid on the chastising 
rod, suffering Satan's angel to buffet the apostle, and 
leading him, as it Avere, up to the brink of despair 
by refusing the apostle's prayer for deliverance. 

Truly it had been a marvellous fight, a matchless 
race ! It was not a man's fight, not a man's race. The 
man Paul, who exclaimed: "O wretched man that I 
am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this 
death!" should have gone down after the lirst blow, 
he could not have run two paces without losing his 
breath. But God upbore him in this strife, and stab- 
lished his faltering knees. It was Jesus' fight in and 



256 For Elderly Men and Women. 

through his chosen servant; Jesus' race in his elect 
vessel. And with this understanding the apostle on 
the eve after the fierce battle could gratefully exclaim : 
''I have fought the fight.'' 

In this sense mother K. wishes to be understood 
by us in the selection of her funeral text. Let us 
briefly review the prominent points in her life, and 
note the battles which she has had to fight, &c., &c. 

All this, beloved, you know far better than 1, for 
she has been with you for more than thirty years, and 
I have known her only a few years. What good 
things I have been enabled to say of her at this sacred 
place, I have from your own lips, for she has talked 
to me in a dififerent strain about herself. I feel that I 
am only paying a debt of love which this congrega- 
tion owes to the dear departed in according to her the 
honor due a child of grace, a bearer of many crosses 
for Jesus' sake, and in proclaiming in this hour of her 
victory and our sorrow : ^'She has fought a good 
fight; she has run her race well." May God grant 
unto us many who fight and run as sincerely. 

II. 

The thoughts of the apostle in our text now rise 
heavenward, away from his sorrows and toils, away 
from the accusations of his own heart and the jibes of 
his enemies, away from all toil and worry. He forgets 
the painful past and the dark present; he stretches 
forward to the bright future. He has lost all for 
Christ's sake ; but one thing remains safe : ''there is 
laid up for me," he says, "a crown of righteousness, 
y/hich the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me 



Christian Fight for a Crown. 257 

at that day/' That crown is ''laid up" for him : he 
has not put it there; it was there before he went into 
the battle, before he entered the race. It was laid up 
for him, lest he should lose it. When he receives it, 
it will be with overflowing thanks to Him who kept 
that crown for him, and who gives it to him from His 
pure mercy, without any merit in Paul. That crown 
is the life eternal, with its unfading glory and undying 
bliss. The chosen of the Lord gather around the 
throne of the Lamb after the strife is over, each of 
them a hero and a conqueror in battles with Satan, 
world and flesh. They sing the songs of the blest ; 
their night of weeping is changed into a morn of song. 
Sorrow and pain are gone. Their happiness is com- 
plete and confirmed. 

I know of no sweeter comfort, my dear friends, in 
this hour of your bereavement, than this which your 
mother has pointed out to you in her funeral text. 
She desires to say to you : ''Weep not ; behold my ex- 
ceeding great reward. If you love me, would you be- 
grudge me this? I am with my Savior; my cross is 
taken from me; my groans have changed into halle- 
lujahs ; my tears have been dried ; my soul has found 
the peace which passeth all understanding." 

But the tender thoughtfulness of your mother ap- 
pears in still another point, when you consider the 
last words of our text. Of the crown which awaits 
him St. Paul says not only that the Lord will give it 
to hinj; "but unto all them also that love his appear- 
ing." Paul was not jealous of his reward of grace; he 
wished to share heaven with many sinners redeemed 



258 For Elderly Men and Women. 

like him. So far from being proud, he really desires 
nothing beyond what we all hope and pray to receive, 
when our fight is fought and our race run. Your 
mother is one of those of whom Paul spoke in this 
text, and she desires to have you included among 
those who love the Lord's appearing. What a deli- 
cate, feeling reminder to you to remain faithful, to 
take up your cross, to run your appointed race, to 
fight your battles ! Do not forget the great reunion 
that shall be, &c. 

I cannot close without an earnest word of admoni- 
tion to you, beloved members of congrega- 
tion. Within a fortnight we have laid to rest three of 
our oldest and best members. The ranks of those 
whose counsel was prized in the affairs of our congre- 
gation are being thinned. Greater responsibilities are 
now daily falling upon the rising generation. God 
takes from us our pillars ; will he also give us new 
members, as scrupulous in their conduct as the old? 
Yes, He will ; His Word and grace shall never fail 
this congregation, and v/ith it shall come every nec- 
essary gift for the upbuilding of the kingdom of His 
Son among us. However, let us be faithful to our 
great trust ; let us hold fast without wavering the pro- 
fession of our faith; let us fight a good fight; let us 
run with patience the race that is set before us. Mean- 
while we commend ourselves to the mercy of our 
Lord who died for us, and who promises us after a 
brief probation a crown of glory. Amen. 



The Dying Christian's Song of Triumph. 259 

XLIII. 

THE DYING CHRISTIAN'S SONG OF 
TRIUMPH. 

I have finished my course, I have kept the faith ; hence- 
forth there is laid up for me a crown of rig-hteousness 
which the Lord, the righteous judg-e, shall give me at that 
day: and not to me alone, but unto all them also that love 
his appearance. 2 Tim. 4:7, 8. 

In Christ beloved mourners : — We are sometimes 
called upon to pronounce funeral orations on the de- 
parture of such people as turn to the Lord in their 
last fleeting- hours and minutes after a long life of sin 
and unbelief. The grace of God snatches them, so to 
say, as live brands from the burning. And as there is 
joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, and re- 
penteth on his death-bed, even so the church of God 
magnifies the mercy of God in such instances, and 
gives humble thanks to the infinite goodness of the 
Alost High. But in such cases we cannot speak words 
of praise on the life of the departed, but must ask our 
people to take a warning and not postpone their 
preparation for death until death has almost veiled 
their reason and senses and sealed their lips. To those 
dying in the manner just mentioned we cannot apply 
the words just read : 'T have finished my course, I 
have kept the faith."" 

The instance of mortality by which we have been 
called hither to-day, is not of such a nature. Our 
father and brother turned, to our knowledge, not un- 
to the Lord Jesus on his death-bed, but in his infancy. 
— He was, if our information is correct, one of the 



260 For Elderly Men and Women. 

rare instances of men that have Hved a Hfe of faith 
and g-odhness from the very baptismal font. From the 
day on which he was baptized in the name of the 
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, he continued for almost 
seventy-two years in the grace ot God. To such men 
we may apply at their departure from this life the 
triumphant song of St. Paul, ''I have finished my 
course." In praise, then, of the unbounded mercies 
of God, and in honor of our deceased father and 
brother, let us meditate in this solemn hour on the dy- 
ing Christian's song of triumph after a long life of 
faith and righteousness. 

First Stanza — I have finished my course. 
Second Stanza — I have kept the faith. 
Third Stanza — Henceforth there is laid up for me a 
crown of righteousness. 

I. 

The course of life which God wills men to finish, is 
to engage in a useful occupation to benefit their fel- 
lowmen. Such was the life of St. Paul in an eminent 
sense. His whole Hfe, after his conversion unto 
Christ, was spent in that glorious calling of winning 
men over from the kingdom of darkness into the 
realm of spiritual life and light. As an ambassador 
of Jesus Christ, he spent his life in missionary efforts 
among the Gentiles. No contempt, no hatred, no per- 
secution, no affliction whatever could prevail upon 
him to neglect this calling, and in the face of a mar- 
tyr's death he exclaimed, 'T have finished my 
course;" I have accomplished, through the grace and 



The Dying Christian's Song of Triumph. 261 

power of God, the work of my life, to preach the Gos- 
pel among the Gentiles. 

Such, also, though in the humbler sphere of an- 
other calling, was the life of our brother, whose de- 
mise has caused us to deck ourselves with the robes 
of mourning. Having been born in the year 1811, in 
Oelbronn, Wurtemburg, and soon thereafter conse- 
crated to the Triune God in holy baptism, he received 
with his brothers and sisters, a good Christian school 
education on the part of his parents. After confirma- 
tion, he prepared himself, by an apprenticeship of sev- 
eral years, for his future course of life — the vocation 
of a clock-maker and jeweler. Since this blessed 
country of ours exhibited to him, as well as to mil- 
lions of others m the old country, a sphere of useful- 
ness and enterprise, he came to America in 1836, and, 
walking the distance from Cleveland to Zanesville, he 
made this city his home. Poor as he had come he 
sustained himself by hard labor at his trade, not 
ashamed of carrying his clocks on his shoulders or 
of conveying them on vehicles from house to house, 
from log-cabin to log-cabin, from farm to farm, treat- 
ing his customers in an upright way, everywhere 
making the impression of honest dealings. 'There 
have been few more industrious, more successful and 

more contented citizens than Mr. ,'' is the tes- - 

timony bestowed upon him in our daily papers by 
such as knew him in his business life. When his chil- 
dren grew up, he educated them also to hard labor in 
a useful sphere, and with their aid, under the blessings 
of God, he was enabled to build up a business, the 



262 For Elderly Men and Women. 

name of which is favorably known in the mercantile 
world, and has grown into magnificent proportions. 
The life of the deceased has, therefore, not been trifled 
away, as so many lives are, nor has it been spent in 
indolence, or in the pursuit of ungodliness and wick- 
edness ; but the brother whose remains rest in the cof- 
fin before us, has departed this life — and herein all 
agree that knew him — as a good man, as a useful cit- 
izen, whose name the records of Zanesville will al- 
ways delight to mention. He rejoiced, also, to see 
others prosper. He aided this place in its useful en- 
terprises, and did his share in advancing the lawful 
interests of our city and county. He was one of those 
men upon whom a commonwealth looks as its orna- 
ments, and whom we are glad to meet in their homes, 
in their offices, on the streets, in the assemblies of 
public men, in the councils of the aged. His conver- 
sation was of a strictly moral and becoming nature. 
He was a comforter of the poor and liberal toward 
the indigent. He would not sacrifice the principles of 
truth and honor for the sake of sinful gain and pleas- 
ure. He watched anxiously not to offend his fellow- 
men, young or old, by evil habits or wicked doings. 
Therefore we may truly say: He finished his course.; 
he walked the path which God in His providence had 
marked out for him, till God released the weary pil- 
grim and let the mainspring of the clock of his earth- 
ly life run down. 

'Your husband and your father, now sainted, as we 
hope, leaves you the heritage of a good name. This 
is a great honor to the bereaved family, that the name 



The Dying Christian's Song of Triumph. 263 

they shall bear is not sullied, but shall accompany 
them as a star on the paths of their future life. To 
know that he whom we bury has lived the life of the 
righteous, and that his death was the close of a good 
and useful sojourn on earth, is an inheritance more 
illustrious than gold or silver, or real estate. 

II. 

But, by the grace of God, we are entitled to pro- 
claim over the coffin of our beloved father also these 
words: '1 have kept the faith.'' What faith? The 
faith in himself and his own moral perfections? In- 
deed not ! That would not be the faith of which St. 
Paul speaks. I have kept the faith means the gen- 
uine Christian faith ; the apostolic faith, laid down in 
the writings of the prophets and apostles. The faith 
that all men, however good their lives, however seem- 
ing their moral accomplishments, are lost by nature 
in trespasses and sins, are under God's wrath and 
condemnation and worthy only of temporal and eter- 
nal punishments. The faith that there is none other 
God in heaven and on earth than the living God — 
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, three persons in one 
undivided and inseparable essence. The faith that the 
Bible is the only true source of religious knowledge, 
and was inspired, in the canonical books of the Old 
and New Testaments, by God himself. The faith that 
Jesus Christ is true God born of the Father from 
eternity, and also true man born of the Virgin Mary, 
our Lord, and the only Mediator between God and 
men, who redeemed, secured and delivered us from all 
sins, from death and the power of the devil ; not with 



264 For Elderly Men and Women. 

silver or gold, but with H'is holy and precious blood, 
and with his innocent sufferings and death, in order 
that we may be His, live under Him in His kingdom, 
and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, inno- 
cence and blessedness. The faith that we cannot by 
our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ 
our Lord, or come to Him, but that the Holy 
Ghost calls us through the Gospel, enlightens us by 
His gifts and preserves us in the true faith ; in like 
manner as He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies 
the whole Christian Church on earth ; in which 
Church He daily forgives us all our sins, because 
even Christians are not perfect, but sin much daily 
and deserve nothing but punishment. The faith that 
God will raise us up, and all the dead at the last day, 
and will grant everlasting life to all who believed in 
Christ. — That all this is most certainly true, was the 
faith which the apostle kept, and which was the 
source and secret of his holy and self-denying life. 
This was also the faith of our departed father and 
brother. As his ancestors had suffered for this faith 
centuries ago in their native country and fled to Ger- 
many for a refuge, so our brother was not only reared 
in the tenets of this faith at school and as a catechu- 
men, but he also kept this faith in the old country and 
in the new. To keep this faith, he, and with him sev- 
eral others, some of whom have already passed to the 
other blessed world, and some few, gray with age, are 
still with us, organized this congregation, went 
through all the labors, and troubles, and afflictions of 
establishing a church on the sound basis of apostolic 



The Ikying- Christian's Song of Triumph. ' 265 

truth. If his heart clung to his business, it cleaved 
still more to the Church of Christ; and, as others 
with him, he was willing to devote his time and 
money and counsel to the interests of this congrega- 
tion, which he assisted in building two churches, its 
own school and parsonage. He was an esteemed 
brother in the church and a member of good stand- 
ing. He served his church in various ways as Deacon, 
Trustee, and Elder. His purse was open to the wants 
of the educational, missionary and charitable institu- 
tions of the Lutheran Church. And as he was a duti- 
ful church member, so he also conducted himself as a 
devout Christian with his family and in his daily 
walk. That the church and its glorious principles 
might be sustained and prosper ; that his family should 
remain with the church, and all his children and 
grandchildren grow up as good Christians, this was 
his care and prayer. He and his spouse were not 
ashamed of making their home a Christian home, 
where the Word of God and the prayers of the saints 
could be heard, and the books and periodicals of Zion 
might be read. And thus they lived a life of happi- 
ness and prosperity. They experienced the blessings 
of the Lord as in other manifold ways, so also in this 
so very important one, that all their children are with 
the church and willing to follow in the footprints of 
their sainted father. Thus our brother kept the faith. 
His faith was the secret of his exemplary life. More- 
over he died in this faith. When he was taken sick 
with his last illness he was asked whether he thought 
he would recover again. 'Terhaps," he said, ''the 



266 For Elderly Men and Wometi. 

good Lord Jesus will have me well again ; if not, why 
He will come and take me home, and I shall meet my 
Savior with the sainted throngs." 

If, therefore, the unstained life of your husband and 
father is an ornament to you all, a jewel in the crown 
of your whole family, the fact that we have every rea- 
son to believe, our father and brother kept the true 
apostolic faith for a space of almost seventy-two 
years, must be our chief comfort at his coffin and 
grave, a comfort fraught with unspeakable peace and 
joy. But this brings before us the third stanza of the 
dying Christian's song of triumph. 

III. 

''Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, 
shall give me at that day, and not to me alone, but 
unto all them also that love his appearance." 

The life of faith and righteousness has its blessings 
in some measure, already in this world. Where fa- 
ther and mother, sons and daughters are all agreed in 
the Lord Jesus and are content with the ways and do- 
ings of the Almighty towards them, where their reso- 
lution is firm in God not to yield to the pressure of 
sinful habits and associations, there a spirit prevails 
which is altogether lovely and sincere, and makes the 
home blessed to such an extent that the very hand of 
affliction and sorrow only unites the members thereof 
the more. If there is no place like home, it is only 
from the fact that Christian and sober parents make 
the home a bosom where their children, even when 
grown, like to nestle. This happiness our father and 



The Dying Christian's Song of Triumph. 267 

brother enjoyed. He not only saw his industry, his 
temperance, and prudence in his business rewarded 
by temporal blessings at the merciful hands of God, 
but he also lived a life of Christian peace and prosper- 
ity with you, the bereaved widow, and with you his 
children and relatives ; and all who had an opportun- 
ity of being his guests, will bear him testimony that 
his house and home was indeed a Christian home. 

But there is another blessing. ''Henceforth there 
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the 
Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.'' 
God, who has given us, in His infinite grace, this 
temporal life for true enjoyment, who permits His 
own to be afiflicted only in so far as is necessary to- 
wards the promotion of His honor and their lasting 
welfare, does not mean we should, as the atheists lie, 
be annihilated after walking His ways fifty and sixty 
and eighty years. No, for all those who finish their 
course and keep their faith, there is laid up a crown 
of rigliteousness. The country welcomes home her 
sons who have staked their lives for its protection; 
the master rewards the faithful steward, toiling from 
morning till night; the heroic soldier and watchful 
worker of the Lord will not be deceived when he re- 
turns his soul to Him that gave it, whilst his body 
returns to dust. The pious and good children of God 
cannot, at their end, meet with the recompense of the 
unbelievers and of such as disgraced every virtue and 
trampled under foot the sacred rights of God and 
man. God — who so loved the world, the whole sin- 
ful race of meui that He gave His only begotten wSon 



268 For Elderly Men and Women. 

that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, 
but have everhisting hfe — will not cast us out when 
we appear before His throne after the last struggle 
is over ; will not cast us out on that final day of resur- 
rection and retribution, but for Christ's sake bestow 
upon us the promised crown of righteousness. For 
surely God *'will render to every man according to 
his deeds; to them who by patient continuance in 
well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortal- 
ity, eternal life; but unto them that are contentious, 
and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, 
indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon 
every soul of man that doeth evil ; of the Jew first, 
and also of the Gentile; but glory, honour and peace 
to every man that worketh good ; to the Jew first, and 
also to the Gentile.'' Romans 2. 

Though the life of the best Christian in this world 
is imperfect and tainted with impurities and sinful 
weaknesses; though our departed brother was also 
constrained by daily experience to lament his short- 
comings and imperfections, yet on account of the 
perfect obedience and sufferings of the world's Re- 
deemer, implored and apprehended by faith, the life 
here begun in weakness shall there be continued in 
perfection ; the body that is here sown in corruption, 
is raised in incorruption ; here sown in weakness is 
raised in power. Immortal glory for every good work 
accomplished, the bright lustre of the heavenly realm 
for every good deed done in the name of Christ, is 
the crown of the righteous in their Father's mansions. 

This, then, is the crown which, we trusti QVir 4^" 



It is Appointed Unto Men Once to Die. 269 

parted father and brother has received, and which he 
will fully -receive on the morning of the resurrection. 
This must be our joy in this present sorrow, our com- 
fort in this grief. He has departed from our congre- 
gation here to join the congregation above; he left 
your family here to meet its sainted members there; 
he quit his earthly toil to enter into the rest of God's 
people ; he has been removed from the field of battle 
to mingle with the triumphant host. Let us, then, all 
receive admonishment from his faith and end, to con- 
tinue in the course of an upright life ; to hold fast the 
profession of faith without wavering; to fill the va- 
cancy caused by his departure in the ranks of our 
congregation by renewed zeal and watchfulness. May 
the God of all comfort comfort the widow, the chil- 
dren and relatives of the deceased, and our church, 
and all them that loved and esteemed the departed 
brother and love the appearance of the Lord Jesus. 
Amen. 



XLIV. 

IT IS APPOINTED UNTO MEN ONCE 
TO DIE. 

It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the 
judg-ment. Heb. 9:27. 

When we look about us on a beautiful spring morn- 
ing, we see the world in its garment of yotfth. The 
earth is covered with a cloak of green, ornamented 
with flowers and plants of pleasant odor ; the trees are 
laden with dark green foliage; in their boughs bird§ 



270 For Elderly Men and Women. 

twitter and chirp the praise of their Creator : the ani- 
mals bask in the warm rays of the sun; all seems 
yomig, all seems happy. Also man is delighted; the 
young rejoice at the coming of spring; the middle- 
aged hail the season by taking new courage and ap- 
plying themselves with invigorated strength to their 
occupation ; the old feel a new life throbbing in their 
veins — what a happy time spring is ! Lost in revery 
over this scene, we never think of death, but at 
spring's heels follows summer with its harvest. x\nd 
autumn advances stripping summer of its glory and 
charms ; the trees of beauty are leafless ; the birds 
hush ; the north wind sweeps over the scene and turns 
life into death, and finally the blast of winter clothes 
nature in her shroud of death. This is repeated every 
year. 

Man is not unlike tliis. He springs forth as a plant 
in spring, fresh and comely, and thinks that he has a 
great future, a long time, before him ; but before he 
realizes it his life has sped away and death claims him 
for his victim. The earth, all its glory, all its great 
promises, all its goods and gifts prove vain. Vanity 
of vanities ; fleeting, evanescent things that perish, 
ere we have time to fully realize them. What is this 
life with all its happiness and enjoyment and pleas- 
ures and promises? What is this earth with its 
charms, its grandeur, its greatness, its honors, its 
beauty? What is man in his strength and greatness 
and honor and esteem and fame amidst all the things 
of the world? Solomon says : ''Vanity of vanities; all 
is vanity,'' Why? because these things perish; the 



It is Appointed Unto Men Once to Die. 271 

earth and its glory wanes ; our life sickers away — and 
man? Our text says of him: ''It is appointed unto 
men once to die, but after this the judgment/' What 
an admonition for us ! Let us consider for a few 
m.inutes what this teaches us. 

i) A fact, an undeniable fact. 
2) A lesson, a great lesson. 

"It is appointed unto men to die." It is decreed in 
the all-wise counsel of God for man to die. This de- 
cree is as firm as a rock, as firm as the foundation up- 
on which this house rests, as firm as heaven and 
earth. For the same Lord that made heaven and 
earth and sun, moon, and stars, has said this, and 
therefore it is undeniable. It is ''appointed/' there is 
a time, an hour set for each and every one of us to 
quit this life, as it was for him whose lifeless remains 
we surround at present. Hence learn in the first place, 
dear friends, that we know not when we shall die, the 
place is not told us. Learn secondly that we know 
not how we shall die ; one may die by accident, anoth- 
er by disease, a third in another way. But above all 
we know not when we shall die. It may be years to 
come, it may be next year, next month, next week, 
to-morrow or even to-day. You can not tell, nor can 
I tell. Yet we know that we must die. Look at 
death's work. The infant, closely clasped to the 
mother's bosom, is torn from her tender embrace ; the 
child, the father's pride, the mother's hope, one week 
well and hearty, the next preyed upon by this fiend, 
death; the young man, full of vigor and in the enjoy- 
ment of health, full of hope and looking with search- 



272 For Elderly Men and Women. 

ing eye into the future, is suddenly overcome and 
plunged into the yawning gulf of eternity; the maiden 
on the brink of womanhood, vivacious and lively, is 
suddenly bent and broken by the wilting blast of dis- 
ease; the man, in the strength of years, is one day 
well, the next a lifeless, cold, clammy corpse, one 
minute on earth, the next in eternity; old age, con- 
stantly pursued by this foe, finally is caught in his 
tight grasp. O death, thou art horrible ! And we all 
must die, all must consent to follow thee into the dark 
valley. For ''it is appointed unto men once to die." 
And then? Ah, then the judgment. 

This judgment takes place after death ; therefore it 
is not in this life, but after it. As soon as the soul 
leaves the body it goes to this place of judgment, 
where its fate is decided forever. It will be fixed in 
one of the two Qternal states, heaven or hell. This 
judgment will be pronounced according to righteous- 
ness, justice, and truth. There w411 be no mistake, for 
it is God that will pronounce it. He is infallible, 
just, and righteous. He shall judge according to 
the deeds done in the body, man's deeds and 
words done and said on earth. In God's court of 
justice all our actions will be examined, all our words 
will be weighed, and judgment rendered, whether 
they be good or bad. Man on earth thinks if he hides 
his deeds so that no one sees them it is well, but alas ! 
how alarmed will he be on that day! Actions good 
and bad, honorable and disgraceful, all, all shall come 
up before the Judge. All words spoken by us, sland- 
ering, defaming, hurting and insulting to our neigh- 



It is Appointed Unto Men Once to Die. 2*73 

bor, shall there be judged in righteousness and truth. 
O judgment, judgment ! 

O what fear man's bosom rendeth, 
When from heaven the Judge descendeth 
On whose sentence all dependeth ! 

And after judgment follows either eternal life or 
eternal death, either heaven or hell. Those that shall 
be proclaimed righteous, shall go away into everlast- 
ing life, into heaven, where they shall be free from all 
sorrows, all pains, all tears ; where their mouth shall 
be filled with laughter and their tongue with singing ; 
where they shall rest from the labors of their hands 
and their works shall follow them. It is a life of hap- 
piness and bliss indescribable, for eye hath not seen, 
nor ear heard, neither have entered into hearts of men, 
the things that God has prepared for them which love 
Him. Happy the man that will stand in the judgment 
and be pronounced righteous, for then all this awaits 
him. The men that will be declared unrighteous, 
whose evil deeds and unforgiven sins justly condemn 
them, shall be cast into hell, the place of eternal tor- 
ment and woe, — a .place where they shall be an ab- 
horring to all flesh, where they shall have no rest day 
nor night, where their thirst is not quenched, where 
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth ; where 
the smoke of their torment ascendeth up from ever- 
lasting to everlasting; where remorse, resentment, 
thirst, all the sorrows and woes of life shall be upon 
them. And they shall suffer not a day, nor a week, 
nor a month, nor a year, nor ten years, nor a hundred 
years, nor five hundred years,nor a thousand years. 



274 ]^or iElderly Men and Women. 

nor ten thousand years, nor a hundred thousand years 
— how glad would the damned m hell be if a hundred 
thousand years would end their torment — but for 
eternity, the punishment will have no end ! no end ! 
no end ! And this is certain, for the God of truth, who 
is infallible and inflexible, says it, and hence it will 
surely come to pass, for ''it is appointed unto men 
once to die and after this the judgment !" 

II. 

What do these two facts teach us? Since we know 
that we must die, let us always be prepared for death 
and judgment, for so much — the eternal destiny of 
the soul — is at stake. The great lesson that we learn 
is the importance of the question : ''Am I ready for 
death and judgment?'' This is the question, the aw- 
ful question, the tremendous question I ask. you to- 
day. Supposing one of us were to drop dead with- 
out warning, would he be ready to meet our God and 
receive judgment at His righteous hands? Then 
what is more important, dear friends, than to know 
that we are ready. What is earth with its vaunted 
treasures? what a life of twenty, or fifty or seventy 
years? what does it amount to? We rush on towards 
that goal, death, with terrific velocity, as if we were 
flying away. On we go to the other world; every 
week, every day, every hour brings us nearer to the 
end, nearer to judgment. Or supposing you would 
have all the happiness of earth, supposing that every 
desire of yours would be gratified, every passion sat- 
isfied, every wish fulfilled, that the earth would be 
yours with its gold and silver, and Jesus Christ asks 



It is Appointed Unto Men Once to Die. 275 

you : "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the 
whole world and lose his own soul?'' Then, let us 
save our soul. 

The Bible tells us how. It teaches that all men are 
sinners ; that the law which God had given man, ac- 
cording to which he was to live, has been shamefully 
transgressed by him. Instead of keeping the law man 
has broken it, and doing anything against the Ten 
Commandments of God is sin, for v/hich man deserves 
punishment. 'The soul that sinneth, it shall die.'' All 
are sinners, all deserve eternal death. And all of us 
would have to be eternally lost, had not God had 
mercy on us and sent His only begotten Son, Jesus 
Christ, into the world and punished our sins in Him. 
Jesus Christ Vv^as ''wounded for our transgressions, he 
was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our 
peace was upon him, and with His stripes we are 
healed.'' He suffered for us. He died for us ; we de- 
served death for our sins, but Jesus Christ, God's 
Son, took upon himself our punishment. 'The Lord 
laid on him the iniquity of us all." All our sins 

On him were laid, 
In him were paid. 

Jesus "was delivered for our offences and raised 
again for our justification." And of him it is said: 
"His name shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his 
people from their sins." Jesus, Savior of sinners, that 
is His name. 

This salvation, this deliverance from sin and death, 
you are to accept in true faith ; you are to believe this 
with your heart. ''God so loved the world that H§ 



276 For Elderly Men and Women. 

gave His only begotten Son that whosoever beheveth 
in him should not perish but have everlasting life." 
Faith is needful, for ''without faith it is impossible to 
please God." And abide in the faith until death, for 
''he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be 
saved." Damnation upon all unbelievers and salva- 
tion upon all true believers, is your God's declaration. 

Now, dear friends, take this lesson home with you 
and think it over. Ask God for grace that he may 
lead you to the knowledge of sin, to the repentance 
of sin, and to the forgiveness of sin which is to be had 
alone by faith in Christ. Believe the Gospel, believe 
in Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. Your life on 
earth will be happy, it will be filled with all blessings, 
and when death approaches and judgment comes, you 
need not fear for death cannot harm you, and judg- 
ment will pass you into heaven. Oh may your dying 
prayer be : 

I fall asleep in Jesus' wounds, 
There pardon for my sins abounds ; 
Yea, Jesus' blood and righteousness 
My jewels are, my glorious dress ; 
Wherein before my God Til stand, 
When I shall reach the heavenly land. 

God grant this for Christ's sake. Amen. 



Faithfulness unto Death. 277 

XLV. 

FAITHFULNESS UNTO DEATH. 

Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a 
crown of life. Rev. 2:10. 

When the announcement v/as made some time ago 
that our brother, now departed, was taken seriously 
ill, a feeling of uneasiness seized many members of 
this congregation. The departed had at one time 
ranked among the foremost members of this congre- 
gation. An early settler in our city when it was still 
a small town, he had with others become instrumental 
in the establishment of a Lutheran congregation at 
this place. His excellent knowledge and finely dis- 
criminating judgment soon caused him to be entrust- 
ed with important offices in the congregation. For 
years he held the office of elder, and discharged the 
functions of that office with rare tact. He was sent 
to represent this congregation at synodical conven- 
tions. Everybody thought well of him and put the 
greatest confidence in him. He was a light and a 
pillar of our congregation. 

Then came a reverse. Owing to misfortunes of 
a private nature and to worldly connections which 
had not been kept under proper control, our brother 
became lukewarm. His pew remained vacant many a 
Sunday. Finally, we were apprised of the fact that 
he was no longer one of us. Years passed w^ithout 
any change, excepting that we would notice that our 
hopes for his return to us became fainter, as he be- 
came deeper entangled in his worldly ways. Many a 
sigh was heaved for him during those years, and many 



278 For Elderly Men and Women. 

a prayer sent up by his former brethren to Him who 
can turn the deceitful and perverse heart of man. But 
he never did enter this church again, until to-day he 
is brought here a corpse. 

The feeling of uneasiness, therefore, of which I 
spoke before, had just grounds. How happy, then, 
can wt be to-day on being informed that all has yet 
turned out well with our truant brother. He has 
charged me to announce to the family of 
faith of which he was at one time a cherished 
and esteemed member, that by the grace of God he 
has been brought to a live sense of his sad fall and 
the ruinous consequences thereof to himself and oth- 
ers, and that mercy was vouchsafed him once more in 
his last weeks for a rising from his fall. He has died 
believing that Christ has forgiven him, as He forgave 
Peter. 

I wish to speak to you to-day on a subject which 
w^as discussed between our departed brother and my- 
self on the last night of his eartlily life, before I ad- 
ministered the Lord's Supper to him in the presence 
of the elders of our church, who had been his com- 
panions in the early years of his life. I wish to speak 
on 

FAITHFULNESS UNTO DEATH, 
And to show 

i) What faithfulness unto death is; 

2) How it is attained ; 

3) What is its reward. 



Faithfulness unto Death. 279 

I. 

The words of our text are from a letter of Jesus to 
the pastor of the Christian Church at Smyrna. In 
this letter, which was dictated by the Spirit to the 
Apostle John, Jesus informs the congregation at 
Smyrna that He is observing them with watchful eye : 
He has beheld its works, its tribulations, its poverty, 
its temptations, its dangers. Moreover, He announces 
to the congregation events still in the future : suffer- 
ing, diabolical persecution, severe trials. He bids the 
congregation not to be afraid, and adds : ''Be thou 
faithful unto death." The connection in which these 
words occur at once makes plain their import. 

Faithfulness, such as Jesus requires, is a virtue of 
believers which consists in clinging to Him through 
every adversity of life, and in conscientiously per- 
forming His work until He says. It is enough ; come 
home, my servant. 

But why should this virtue be especially enjoined 
upon Christians? you ask. When a person becomes 
a Christian, does he not become such to stay? Most 
assuredly, beloved. Christianity is a man's final 
choice, made in this life for the life to come. When- 
ever this choice is sincerely made it decides, once and 
forever, the chooser's fortune here and hereafter. He 
who comes to Christ out of this world of sin, burns 
every bridge behind him. He has done with the 
world. He has renounced his old master. He has 
chained his flesh. 

But world, devil and flesh have not done with hirn. 
The Christian whom Christ by His Word of grace 



280 Por* E]lderly Men and Women. 

has reclaimed from bondage, is regarded by his for- 
mer masters as their property. The very fact that 
Christ has taken the Christian from them, makes the 
Christian appear all the more valuable in their eyes. 
They will fight with their combined strength for his 
recovery. 

They know all his weak points, for they have ob- 
served him formerly, and he must move in closest 
proximity to them while he lives. They are able to 
calculate to a nicety what effect either the good or the 
evil things of this life will have upon him. They watch 
their opportunities. They will bait him with earth's 
glory; they fondle up to him with the caresses of 
the flatterer's tongue ; they allure him with pleasure's 
full cup. Again, they will goad him with a sense of 
his shortcomings, and vex him with his misfortunes 
and lash him with despair in his darkest hour. 

Under such circumstances the Christian is to re- 
main faithful. What that means in any particular mo- 
ment of life, the attending circumstances themselves 
must determine. At all times it means that a Chris- 
tian must set his face like flint against these hellish 
assailants, spurn pleasing offers, denounce their hide- 
ous suggestions, and laugh their mad rage to scorn. 
'T have chosen Jesus, His Word, His Sacraments, 
His Church, His Heaven; thereby I will abide!" he 
tells his assailants. ''You can neither tempt me nor 
intimidate me. You can give me nothing that I de- 
sire, nor take anything from me that I should grieve 
over. Jesus is my all-sufficient portion." 

That is faithfulness. Now, imagine a life spent in 



Faithfulness unto Death. 281 

such conduct, from the baptismal font to the last 
communion, and you have faithfulness unto death. At 
the time when our text was written, the words ^'unto 
death" had also another meaning: they meant as 
much as "at the risk of your life/' If a Christian at 
any time should be placed before the terrible alterna- 
tive of either abjuring his faith in Christ or forfeiting 
his life, faithfulness demands that he must choose the 
latter. He shall then say with Luther : 

"And take they our life, 
Goods, fame, children, wife, 
When their worst is done, 
Yet have they nothing won ; 
The kingdom ours remaineth/' 

That is faithfulness unto death. 

Are there any such Christians in existence? you 
ask. I confess that I know of none. There are de- 
grees of faithfulness among the disciples of Christ, but 
the perfection of faithfulness is not reached by any 
one. Not all Christians turn Judases ; not all choose 
the way of Demas ; not all commit Peter's sin ; but 
even in his Johns and Andrews the Lord finds much 
which he must in mercy overlook. It is a sad fact, 
but it is a fact. We are all guilty, in a different form, 
perhaps in an imperceptible degree, of that sin which 
weighed so heavily upon the soul of the departed ; and 
I have no doubt God has placed the dear brother once 
more into our midst to warn us : "Let him that stand- 
eth take heed lest he fall. Be ye faithful unto death !"' 
My brethren, if you could have been w^itnesses as I 
was of the remorse, the bitter shame, the relentless 



2S2 For Elderly Men and Women. 

self-accusations of our departed brother, you would 
feel, as I do now, that these few words of Christ: ''Be 
thou faithful unto death,'' are words before which ev- 
er}^ heart must quail. 

II. 

Upon faithfulness unto death, however, depends 
the crown of life. In view of this fact we ask with fear 
and trembling-: Who then can be saved? The Savior's 
answer to this question, given on a different occasion, 
applies also here : ''With men this is impossible ; but 
with God all things are possible." In other words, 
faithfulness unto death, wherever it is found and as 
much as there is found of it, is a gift, a work of grace. 
The fact that the Savior demands it of His Christians 
does not indicate that they must produce it, but that 
it will be produced in and from them. They shall be 
faithful, not render themselves faithful. When God 
blessed the new earth and said to all the forms of 
veg-etable and animal life : "Be ye fruitful," He did not 
impose a task upon them, but merely referred to con- 
ditions which He had created in them. It w^as given 
every tree with the very fact of its existence, to be 
fruitful : it is given every Christian in and with his 
new birth by the Word and Baptism to be faithful. 
The life of a Christian after his regeneration is a de- 
velopment under grace of every gift and virtue which 
is given him with the bestowal of faith. When God 
makes a Christian, He makes a faithful Christian, one 
faithful unto death. He in whose hands lay the first 
beginnings of our new life, is also its divine Guardian 
and Preserver through all stages of our growth in 



Faithfulness unto Death. 283 

grace. Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. 
In ourselves we find no faithfulness ; even when we 
have done all, we must profess ourselves unprofitable 
servants ; but in Him we have all that we need to arm 
us for the fight, to cheer us in our weaker hours, to 
rouse us in our fatigue or security. The more we 
become convinced that this faithfulness unto death is 
not in us, the more earnestly we should look for it in 
Him, call for it from Him, take it out of His hand, 
whenever He cheers us with the promise of His help 
in the sermon or in the Sacrament. 

It is when we look at this text with the clear eye 
of faith that it begins to shine with a mellow, soothing 
light, and to radiate v/armth into our hearts chilled 
with the blast of this world's trials. He who says 
these words knows us — knows us better than we 
know ourselves, — has known, yea foreknown us in 
Himself, before we had breath and being. When he 
chose us out of a mass of sinners, he chose us unto 
faithfulness to the end. The gift of final perseverance 
was given along with our election unto life. Through 
armies of devils, through labyrinths of temptations 
He purposed to lead us, and the gates of hell should 
not prevail against us, and no one should pluck us out 
of the hands of the Bishop and Shepherd of our souls. 
Therefore we fear not ; as little as the tree in the or- 
chard worries over the harvest to come, as little shall 
we worry over the end, if we make Christ our guide 
to that end. It will be all over with our confidence, as 
soon as we lock at our own ability. Then we will 
look at the corpse before us and ask : May not I also 



\ 



284 For Elderly Men and Women. 

fall from grace? Who knows whether I may not 
some time forsake my church? Yes, who knows? We 
have no reassuring answer to that question. But, I 
say, look imto Christ ; the certainty of your salvation 
is in Christ. Has He not finally saved also this 
brother? When he forsook Christ, did Christ forsake 
him? Has not Christ in a wonderful manner given 
Him faithfulness unto death? 

HI. 
In that case, you will say, there is really no merit 
to be ascribed to man's faithfulness, and the crown 
of life which Jesus promises in our text cannot be re- 
garded as a reward earned by any effort of the person 
receiving it. 'T is even so, and 't is well that it is so. 
We shall enter heaven on the terms of mercy, not of 
worthiness : not because we have been so good to 
Jesus, but because He has been so good to us. Not 
our own achievements the Lord shall crown at the 
end of our course, but His matchless work of grace 
in us. By the crown which He will place on our 
heads Jesus will verify our faith in His promises, not 
pay us for our works. The part which we shall play 
at that scene of coronation will be that of wondering 
lookers-on. We shall not be able to understand how 
it is possible that so much unworthiness, so m.uch 
truancy, so much frowardness, so much obstinacy, of 
which we know ourselves guilty, should be crowned. 
We shall feel hke asking: Lord, what doest thou? 
And when He mentions events in our life with which 
He has been well pleased, we shall interpose our be- 
wildered: Lord, when did we these things unto thee? 



^faithfulness unto Death. 285 

We had expected to barely gain admission to the 
courts of praise, and should have counted it a priceless 
sorrows and pains to God and say with the psalmist : 
privilege to be door-keepers in the house not made 
with hands, and lo ! He leads us out in the full glare of 
the never-fading light, and makes a show of us in 
heaven. We knew that w^e would arrive at the portals 
of the bridal chamber naked, ragged, mained, halt, 
just as we had been brought in from the filth and the 
wear of this life, and behold ! He takes us by His 
hands, and as He deposits the crown upon our brow 
proclaims in the mansions of bliss : This is my well- 
beloved, who has come through much tribulation, and 
has washed his garments in the Lamb's blood. And 
then the seraph strikes into his jubilant harp and the 
celestial choirs take up the strain of the mercy never- 
ending, the grace abounding which has surpassed all 
our sinning, and our heart swells with the tide of the 
song, as we pour out, in words that exceed utterance, 
our fervent thanks to the Redeemer, who kept us 
when we fell, raised us, reclaimed us, and in our last 
moment gave us strength to be faithful to the end. 
May such be our fortune, for Jesus' sake. Amen. 



»J< 



FOR EXTRAORDINARY OCCASIONS. 

XLVI. 

UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES IS THE 
DESIRE TO DIE A PIOUS DESIRE. 

I would not live alway. Job 7:16. 

A life-long sufferer is borne to his resting place to- 
day. A body racked with pain and distorted has at 
last received surcease of all its woe. A soul, more- 
over, that was often bruised with the blows of fierce 
internal conflicts, has found peace. Death seems, in 
this instance, to have lost much of its frightful exter- 
ior: it has come in like a divine benefaction, bringing 
relief after human skill had long ago surrendered the 
task of alleviating the sufferer's pitiful condition as a 
hopeless one. Like a bright sunset after a stormy 
day, when the murky skies are rolled up into cloud- 
banks on the far horizon, and the roar of the storm 
has ceased, and the waters lie smooth and calm, so 
has been this sufferer's departure out of this world 
and life, of the joys and delights of which he had 
tasted scarcely any, while he had sounded its depths 
of misery to the bottom. 

In the lives of men such terrible complications arise 
at times that it seems legitimate to wish and pray for 
the end. True, ''life every man holds dear," but when 
that life is one continuous round of agony and tor- 
ture, when its practical usefulness is destroyed, and 



I 



A Pious Desire. 287 

a person is become a source of discomfort to others 
and a loathed burden to himself, it seems folly that he 
should nurse his former affections for this world, and 
not court death. There are men who would even ad- 
vise a violent snapping* of the silver cord. Some re- 
ligions teach self-destruction under certain circum- 
stances to be a virtue. Heathen and infidels have 
eulogized such acts; and to our amazement we even 
find Scripture cited in defense of that disgust of life, 
which finds vent, in word and deed, so often in our 
day. Job, the great sufferer, and the apostle Paul are 
pointed out as men who held the view that life is not 
worth living, and death should be coveted, especially 
when a person is in misery. Yea, it is claimed that the 
church has reiterated this belief in the hymn of one of 
her poets : . • 

'T would not live alway ; I ask not to stay 
Where storm after storm rises dark o'er the way ; 
The few lurid mornings that dawn on us here 
Are enough for life's woes, full enough for its cheer."' 

Now, the thought that a person may justly end his 
life by his own hand is so plainly against the teaching 
of Scripture, that we shall refuse to notice it. But 
what about the wish to die — is that also un-Christian? 
The present occasion invites an investigation of this 
subject, inasmuch as the circumstances, imder which 
our departed friend suffered and died, furnish us with 
a commentary in fact on the view that the wish to 
die is a Christian wish. I shall, with the gracious as- 
sistance of the Spirit, attempt to set forth. 



288 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES THE DE- 
SIRE TO DIE IS A PIOUS DESIRE. 

It is such 

i) When it does not proceed from an unsubdued 
passion of the flesh ; 

2) But from the ardor of sanctified hope. 

I. 

It is, indeed, one of the illustrious saints of God 
whom we hear speaking in our text : 'T would not live 
alway ;'' but just at this juncture in his life Job serves 
as a warning- example to us. Job was provoked when 
he spoke these words. The speech of Eliphaz the 
Temanite was^ rankling in his heart. And it is true, 
Eliphaz had proven a sorry comforter. He had ad- 
vanced this view, that Job's sufferings were marks of 
God's anger against Job; for no righteous person 
would be made to suffer like Job. This drew from 
Job a passionate complaint, that in addition to his 
loss of fortune, children, health and the apostasy of 
his wife, he had also to receive incrimination and re- 
buke from his friends, from whom he might have ex- 
pected commiseration and comfort. In this violent 
outburst Job even spoke against the ruling of God, 
w^hom he now regarded as his enemy, and hence con- 
cluded that it were best to get rid of all his worry and 
misery by death. Here our Lutheran commentators 
add this warning note : ''Such words all proceed from 
inborn impatience and disobedience, because the old 
Adam in us will not subrnit to the wUI of God, but ^1- 



A Pious Desire. 289 

ways proposes for itself other ways and measures than 
God appoints/' 

God in mercy overheard Job's wish ; He did not 
fulfill Job's passionate demand, and when afterwards 
He had reasoned with Job, the latter confessed : ''Be- 
hold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay 
my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken ; but 
I will riot answer : yea, twice ; but I will proceed no 
further." 

We gather from this that the disgust of life which 
occasionally seizes also Christians must be examined 
as to its motive. It will not do to throw down your 
work in a fit of anger or despair *and wish yourself 
dead. And though this wish may be expressed in the 
language of Christian piety, we must beware lest our 
flesh and the devil deceive us by a mock devotion. 
Scripture in thousands of places exhorts suffering 
Christians unto patience, and arms them under their 
crosses with the cheerful assurance of God's succoring 
presence. It makes their very trials a link in the chain 
of divine foreordination, when it reminds them that 
all things must work together for good to them that 
love God, to the called according to his purpose. It 
emphasizes the sufferings of believers by their like- 
ness to the Savior's sufferings. And it parades in the 
catalogue of heioes of the faith in the eleventh of 
Hebrews many a noble cross-bearer who plodded 
faithfully to the end of his road without murnmring. 

Yes, the desire to die is frequently a protest of the 
flesh against the measures of our heavenly Father for 
our spiritual advancement. Afflictions are education- 



290 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

al means of God, and He alone knows how much of 
it He must apply to each of us. He knows where He 
must place the chisel to strike ofif some unevenness, 
in order that the likeness of Christ may appear in us ; 
where to apply the pruning knife that shall purge the 
branches of wild growth. He knows how much He 
must beat the lump of clay to deliver it of its baubles 
of vanity, before He can begin to mould ; and how of- 
ten the pestle must go down on the spice in His mor- 
tar to cause it to yield its fragrance. The flesh may 
chafe ; and the will be roused to rebellion ; the tongue 
may utter blank folly: friends may pour oil into the 
fire by their ill-adA^sed judgments and Satan may fan 
the flames with his hellish suggestions, but He must 
keep right on till His purpose is accomplished. 

Blessed is the person who can cheerfully submit to 
God's refining process; who can be still and wait to 
see God's salvation ; who can resign himself in all his 
"My times are in thy hands." Such a person will 
recognize at once what the devil purposes when he 
suggests an ending of life's sorrows by violent means, 
or inspires disgust with present conditions and fills 
the lips with complaints. 

In our departed friend there has been witnessed a 
wonderful power of resignation. I have never heard 
him grumble, and when once he cried out in fierce 
pain and I leaned forward to listen whether he ex- 
pressed a wish, he was muttering the Lord's Prayer 
with his teeth set, as if in defiance of pain and death. 
Whenever he felt easier, his conversation was pleas- 
ant and trustful. His bed of suffering resembles a 



A Pious Desire. 291 

battle-ground on which he fought out many a battle, 
and the grace of God permitted him to come out vic- 
torious. He has taught us a striking lesson, and to 
teach us that lesson, I have no doubt, was one of the 
purposes the Lord had in extending his suffering 
through so many years. 

But our brother also desired death ; yea, he prayed 
for his release. How this was done, I desire to show 
in the second place. 

H. 

Scripture speaks of the children of God in this pres- 
ent life as of pilgrims. It says : ''Here have we no 
continuing city, but we seek one to come.'' Heaven 
is the Christian's fatherland. While he is still in the 
flesh, he is not at home. He is a wanderer abroad in 
a strange country among strange men, with whom 
he cannot associate. This being so, the Christian is 
at times seized with what the Germans have beauti- 
fully called ''Heimweh/' a longing to be home, an in- 
tense feeling to leave this world with its sin and sor- 
row, and hurry heavenward to his Father and his 
sainted friends. This feeling varies in intensity in 
different Christians, but they all have it. Sometimes 
it passes through our mind in the twinkling of an eye : 
the thought comes of that vast change from heaven 
to earth, and is gone as rapidly as it came. It was a 
mere thought, but it arrested our attention. Some- 
times such thoughts come in rapid succession and 
under ever changing forms : details of the future be- 
fore us are presented to our mind's eye, and we are 
carried along for some moments bv them. Then again 



292 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

we have seasons when the mind becomes utterly for- 
getful of its conditions and lives in another world. 
Splendid reveries are vouchsafed to the child of God 
who by faith and prayer maintains an intimate con- 
nection with His Father in heaven and his heavenly 
fatherland. It is a spiritual luxury, this ''Heimweh'' 
of the faith. 

In his prison at Rome aged Paul was wrestling with 
it. He describes the dispute which arose in his heart 
thus: ''For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 
But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor : 
yet w^hat I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a 
strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to 
be with Christ; which is far better: nevertheless to 
abide in the flesh is more needful for you.'' And in 
the same epistle he ascribes his longing for the heav- 
enly home to all Christians when he says : ''Our con- 
versation is in heaven.'' Christians, in a manner, live 
in heaven while still on earth. Where their treasure 
is, there must their heart be : Christ, their treasure, is 
in heaven ; Fle has gone to prepare a place for them ; 
He will have his servants to be with him. To heaven 
their calling and vocation points them. Of heaven 
every sermon speaks to them. Their own faith in 
God's promises is bound to arouse and daily increase 
their desire for the realization of their fondest hopes. 
Hence, it cannot be otherwise than that a Christian 
should desire to depart and be with his Savior. This 
desire is justifiable ; yea, it is a necessary accompani- 
ment of live faith. No one need feel ashamed of it. 
It is the language of the Spirit within us speaking to 



A Pious Desire. 293 

US of the dear home. We are not ashamed of our 
earthly longing for home. We should regard our 
children as lacking in devotion to us, if when separ- 
ated from the place where their cradle was rocked, 
they w^ould not sometimes think of home. The sol- 
dier in foreign fields, the sailor picking his way along 
far away coasts does not disdain the tear that steals 
into his eye, as on the still evening air there comes 
to him the song of his comrades : ''Home, sweet 
home ! There is no place like home !'' 

Yes, it is right for a Christian to be home-sick for 
heaven. It is right that he should realize that he 
must not make his home here. He must become 
loosened more and more from the fetters which still 
bind his affections to this world. But, mark you, this 
ardent longing of a Christian's hope never unfits the 
Christian for the active duties of this life, while this 
life lasts. It is begotten in him of faith, and faith 
always does God's will. Paul sacrificed his desire 
for departure, because it was needful to remain. He 
stayed out his time. So Christians yearn to be gone 
to their rest, but they wait for the summons. The 
hope of reaching home may accelerate their spiritual 
pace, as the wanderer strikes out with greater vigor 
every time he thinks of the home before him. This 
hope cheers us on our way and causes us to beguile 
our very journeyings and sojourns in this strange 
country with songs of the happy land. 

In this sense our friend desired to depart, commit- 
ting the realization of his desire to God. He now has 



294 iB^or Extraordinary Occasions. 

his wish, and we wish we were sharers with him. We 
shall wait in patience for God's appointed hour. 

Who, who would live alway, away from his God? 

Away from yon heaven, that blissful abode, 

Where the rivers of pleasure flow o'er the bright 

plains, 
And the noontide of glory eternally reigns. 

Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet, 
Their Savior and brethren transported to greet : 
While the songs of salvation unceasingly roll, 
And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul? 



XLVII. 

BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. 

(Funeral sermon delivered at the death of a young 
man killed by a falling tree.) 

Be still, and know that I am God. Ps. 46:10. 
The end which our young friend met with, is seem- 
ingly a human accident, which might have been pre- 
vented or avoided by human foresight and care. So 
it has been spoken of and presented in these last few 
days, reported, printed and told time and again. But 
into the midst of this human speculation, the God of 
Life, He who says: '^Return ye children of' men.'^ 
He without whose knowledge not a sparrow shall fall 
to the ground, not a hair from our head, — He speaks 
and says unto us : ''Be still and know that I am God. 
I am the Lord and there is none beside me. I form 
the light and create darkness; I make peace* and ere- 



Be still, and know that I am God. 295 

ate evil ; I the Lord do all these things. (Isa. 45 15, 7.) 
Shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not 
done it?'" (Amos 3 :6.) So also this evil, although it 
was brought about by men and in part by the de- 
ceased himself, yet it is not an evil stroke of a frowning 
fortune, a mere human accident, but a turn wrought 
by God; a disposition of His divine, holy, but good 
will. If we would have light and comfort in this aw- 
ful visitation we must hearken to this voice and this 
one alone. Let me present the text as a word of con- 
solation to the bereaved mourners and a word of 
warning to us all. 

L 

^'Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my 
sorrow!" Lam. i :i2. Why did such a blow fall upon 
us? Why is he taken from us so early? Why so sud- 
denly in a moment ! Strong and sound did he leave 
us in the morning, mangled and torn, bruised and 
crushed were his remains brought back to us but a 
few hours later! Why such a terrible death? Why 
did he not die last winter when he was sick? Such 
questions and their likes are asked by many and un- 
doubtedly also by those upon whom the blow has fal- 
len. All such happenings and visitations of God are 
intended to make us ask questions, but not as much 
questioning God in His dealings but rather questions 
directed to ourselves. When they are directed to 
Him, they sound, and often are, impudent, querulous, 
irritated, and very much like a demand or threat, con- 
taining a hidden accusation. But His answer is a 
soft one, firmly declining to enter upon such a dis- 



296 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

cussion with us. It is an answer directing us to ex- 
amine ourselves. ''Be still and know that I am God." 
Answer me, my people ! Have you lived in the real 
thorough appreciation and knowledge of the fact that 
I am God? the God who created man, gave him body? 
. . . the rightful Master, Lord of the living and 
the dead? Have you looked upon this person, dedi- 
cated to me in Holy Baptism, enlisted in my service 
at confirmation, as mine? Have you regarded him 
as a gift from me, or rather a sacred trust to keep for 
me? If your daily prayer has been : ''Thy will be done 
on earth as it is in heaven" and if it was devoted, sin- 
cere, and true, will you not respect and honor my sov- 
ereign will now in his death? Did you know and be- 
lieve : The Lord is at hand — what is the reason of 
your many 'Svhys and wherefores?" Why has my 
call startled you so? Why is it so hard to convince 
you that I really did call him away? Thus quiet your 
own heart, considering God's majesty, and it will pre- 
pare you to receive His consolation. Is it really too 
early for him to have been taken away? He was as I 
can now say, a true Christian, and only recently as- 
sured his pastor of his sympathy and prayers. Should 
not the pastor then as well as any one of you protest 
and say : Such a member of the church should not be 
taken away so soon; he has a large sphere of useful- 
ness, there are so few praying souls ! Never ! Let us 
recognize this truth : The Lord is God. Thy ways, O 
Lord, are higher than ours. Thy thoughts past search- 
ing and finding out, and Thou wilt bring all to a 
blessed end. You, of course, will feel his loss more 



Se still, and know that I am God. 297 

keenly, personally, and longer than any of us. But 
the more unselfish 3^our love is, the more will you be 
satisfied and content, if it only be well with Him. Can 
any one then be removed too early from a world of 
sorrow, labor, temptations and woes ; can one be de- 
livered too soon from a deep, dark dungeon, from 
lingering sickness ; can one then be delivered too 
quick from all evil and be transferred into God's 
glorious heavenly kingdom too soon? Did not St. 
Paul say : ''I desire to depart and be with Christ, 
which is far better?" True, you Vv^ill admit, but not 
so suddenly, so unexpectedly, without a thought or 
warning of death, without a sigh or prayer for a 
blessed end ! A quick and sudden death is not always 
an evil death. A thousand prayers will never bring 
a stubborn sinner and unconverted person into heav- 
en. Only true faith from a repentant and sorrowful 
heart, a firm trust in Jesus Christ's vicarious suffer- 
ing and death will save. And death can never come 
too sudden to such a person. Our brother was not 
unprepared. He had learnt all that was necessary in 
his last and dangerous sickness ; the lessons then 
learnt on the bed of a painful and wearisome sickness 
he had not forgotten, when he recovered. His faith 
was strong and watchful. Thus did God prepare him 
and now He has taken him quickly, without sickness, 
through the dark door of death into the bright home 
of the Father. But you still urge the terrible manner 
of his death. Only a death in sin and self-deception 
is terrible. The death of an old man of eighty years, 
though he live in ease, surrounded by wealth and lux- 



298 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

ury, dying painlessly, after a life without God and 
Christ is terrible. For : 'Tie that believeth not shall 
be damned/' The death of St. vStephen, who fell un- 
der the volley of stones hurled at him by his foes and 
murderers, his body crushed, bruised, bleeding, was 
a blessed death ; for we read of it (Acts 7 :6o), ''He fell 
asleep.*' St. Peter's death according to all accounts 
was a violent one, and yet it is spoken of as a death, 
by which he was to glorify God. (John 21 119) The 
death of our brother therefore is terrible only to hu- 
man eyes and feeling. The fatal stroke and falling 
asleep was one, and he also will surely glorify God, 
if his sudden and violent death only bring forth fruits 
of repentance and righteousness among us. Thus 
you will be satisfied, my Christian mourners, to praise 
God who removed your beloved one so graciously 
and without conscious pain or struggle, from death 
into life. 

II. 
This death is a warning and admonition to us all. 
From all that has been said, it is evident that no fault 
attaches to the deceased for his own death. In no 
sense can it then be called a judgment of God against 
the deceased personally. That is the reason why we 
all should stop to think and say : What does God tell 
me? To prevent unthinking, unfeeling, unkind and 
unjust judgments. Let us all mark our text which 
tells us : **Be still f know ye that I am God ; that God 
whom none can escape. As little as these men could 
stop the falling tree, as little can the combined 
strength of all men stop the Lord's uplifted arm. Let 



Be still, and know that I am God. 299 

none of you boast of his own carefulness or shrewd- 
ness in avoiding trouble. Let none think: I am hap- 
py, for I need not run such risks, I am wealthy and 
independent, ''for the Lord delighteth not in the 
strength of the horse, he taketh not pleasure in the 
legs of man. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that 
fear him. In those that hope in his mercy." (Ps. 
147:10, 11; Jer. 9:23) Yea, ''Cursed is the man that 
trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose 
heart departeth from the Lord. Jer. 17:5. Be still 
and know that I am God, who alone can bring to a 
successful issue what men begin ; who alone disposes 
while men scheme and propose, the God whose will 
alone decides and turns all things. Our young friend 
had about made ready house and home and was look- 
ing forward to the happy day when he might bring 
to her home the wife ; her fondest hopes were toward 
the day when she Avith him would say : "But as for me 
and my house, we will serve the Lord'' — when lo ! in 
one moment all this is shattered ! So God tells us in 
all our schenies and plots and plans, in all our under- 
takings : "Go to now, ye that say. To-day or to-mor- 
row we will go into such a city, and continue there a 
year, and buy and get gain : Whereas ye know not 
what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? 
It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and 
then vanish eth away. For that ye ought to say. If 
the Lord will, we will live and do this or that. But 
now ye rejoice in your boastings : all such rejoicing 
is evil. (James 4:13-16) Let Christ Himself tell you 
>vhat is the safest and best course: (Matth. 16:26; 



300 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

Mark 8:36) Therefore, be still and know that I am 
God, a God at hand. He is a God near unto all, as 
a God of life and death and judge of the living and 
the dead. As such He is near to the old and young, 
the weak and strong, the sick and those in the prime 
of health, at home, abroad, at work or at rest, awake 
or asleep. In the midst of life we are in death. He 
is near unto us now with His word and Spirit, ''Be- 
hold now is the accepted time." (2 Cor. 6:2) Had 
our deceased friend tarried, his days of grace would 
have been cut off suddenly. But he heard and heeded. 
He freely confessed his Savior, heard and learnt the 
Word with gladness. Nor was he a hearer only, but 
a faithful doer. His piety was of the manly sort, 
sound and free from all fashionable faddism and sick- 
ly sentimentalism. His faith and piety gave him his 
true value and character, nor did it make him morose 
and peevish. All his friends and acquaintances will 
gladly bear me out in saying: Ever since he became 
a Christian he was even-tempered, friendly, sober, and 
firm. Therefore, be still and know that I am God, He 
who turneth the hearts of men as rivers of waters, who 
also is the God of all such who will separate them- 
selves. . . . See 2 Cor. 6:16-18. O Lord, our 
God, bless this bloody planting unto a lively growing. 
Let this death be a savor of life unto many for the 
sake of thy mercy in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen, 



^ Address. 301 

XLVIII. 

ADDRESS* 

(Address for the sudden death of a four-month old 

child.) 

My thoug-hts are not your thoug-hts, neither are your 
ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are 
higher than the earth, so are my wa3^s hig-her than your 
ways, and my thoug-hts than your thoughts. Isa. 55:8, 9. 

It was but a few months ago when we were as- 
sembled here to be merry and glad with our friends. 
"This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will 
rejoice and be glad in it/' so said the grandparents, 
relatives and friends when the child was baptized. 
To-day after but four short months we are here again, 
weeping with them that are sad and sorrowful. The 
Lord our God sends us many changes and vicissi- 
tudes. ''Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and 
the end of that mirth is heaviness.'' (Prov. 14 :i3.) At 
the occasion of its baptism we not only rejoiced over 
the child, but we offered for it many sincere wishes 
and pious prayers. We wished and prayed that it 
might increase in baptismal grace, grow in years, in 
wisdom and favor with God and man, we hoped that 
it would live to be a staff and support unto his par- 
ents in their declining days. But things came differ- 
ently, much otherwise than we had expected, hoped 
or prayed. He died in the same year in which he was 
born. He died suddenly and in great pain. He saw 
not a single spring or summer. Nor did he see much 
ease or experience much comfort, for weakness and 
pain was his lot nearly half of his days. However^ 



302 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

let US not be distressed over his death, for we are told : 
Isa. 55 :8, 9. 

But you ask, Can we enter into His thoughts? Can 
we search His ways? Are they not past finding out? 
Can we spy out His mysterious dealings? Are we 
permitted to ask : O Lord, our God, why hast Thou 
dealt with us in such a way? Thou art the lover of 
life, why hast Thou sent so early a death to this child? 
Thou hast been gracious unto these parents before 
and hast spared their other children to them, why hast 
Thou taken from them the yoimgest, weakest and 
dearest? Foolish questions these are, indeed. In 
heaven all these riddles and problems, which give us 
so much trouble and pain, will be answered and solved. 
But while we walk here below in the vale of darkness, 
shadows will often flit over us and obscure our paths, 
it cannot be otherwise and we must be satisfied w4th 
Christ's answer to St. Peter : ''What I do, thou know- 
est not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.'' How 
then? How shall we be comforted until then? Shall 
I try to console you after the manner of the world, 
with common-place platitudes and empty phrases, 
such as this : Do not grieve and worry so much, you 
have other children and a nice family still remains ; do 
not take it so hard for having lost the youngest. It 
was weak and gave little promise. Oh how inane such 
phrases are! How repulsive to a loving mother's 
heart! The shepherd having 100 sheep dearly loves 
the lost one. He will leave the 99 and search for the 
strayed one. A mother having a number of children 
does cling all the more to the one that is taken away. 



Address. 303 

Should I offer to you another such super- 
ficial piece of consolation? "Time heals all 
wounds; after a short space of time you 
will forget the taking away of this little 
one.'" God forbid that this be true ! What you forget 
so soon, you never really loved ! Pictures under 
frame and cover may fade, but the picture which a 
mother and father carry in their heart, cannot be 
dimmed by time nor changed by passing circum- 
stances. I should be ashamed to stand at this bier as 
your pastor if that were the best consolation I could 
offer to you. Thanks be to God ! I have a far better 
one. It is none other than the same text which you 
heard four months ago : Suffer the little . . . 
Matth. 10:14. What was the cause of our joy four 
months ago? This fact: That by baptism this little 
one had been born again, was made a member of 
Christ's kingdom, yea, that by it, Christ received and 
took it up into His arms, blessing it as His child. 
Though we knew it to be a new born infant and not 
strong, yet we knew that by this blessed washing it 
was made strong in the inner man. To-day our con- 
solation is according to that same word, that by death 
it now enjoys the actual, personal communion with its 
Savior into which it was baptized. If we understood 
and applied this text four months ago as meaning 
that being brought to Christ, the child might in its 
baptismal grace lead a long and useful life here be- 
low, and if our wishes centered there, let us to-day 
rest assured that God meant it in a richer and far bet- 
ter way than w*e did, He hasted away with its soul to 



304 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

have it with Himself. Even though we do not know 
to-day God's special purpose, we are satisfied to know 
that of such baptized children is the kingdom of God ; 
that from its mother's bosom and its father's arm, this 
child has been changed to Abraham's bosom and the 
care of its God and Savior. Lift up your hearts, then, 
on high where Jesus is, unto the blessed heights of 
life and enduring light. What we here below behold 
with our eyes lying before us, is but the mortal frame, 
the house of clay ; the immortal part, the soul, washed, 
cleansed and made spotlessly white by the blood of 
the Lamb, purified from spots and blemishes of all sin, 
is forever with the Lord. When such small and young 
heirs of heaven die, we do not lose them, they are 
sent on to their Father, so they may not be lost. 

We bear away from this house only the precious 
seed, to be planted into God's Acre in corruption and 
weakness, that it may rise in glory, power and incor- 
ruption. While here below, his angels always beheld 
the face of the Father in heaven ; now he himself be- 
holds that face with them who are his companions. 
He is far better off than we. May God grant unto us 
children's faith that we may reach the heaven which 
is of such children and of such which become as chil- 
dren. A baptized infant cannot be lost; they all are 
saved by faith, without fail. With us it is different, 
with us it depends on our being steadfast in faith unto 
the end. Do you then believe? Have you saving 
faith? Well indeed is it with all such who do truly 
believe that there is salvation in none other than Je- 
sus Christ. You who were united 16 this child not 



Address. 305 

only by ties of blood and relationship, but by faith, 
wipe away tears, for you have the assurance that by 
this faith you will be re-united with this little one in 
the last day and with these words you should comfort 
each other. You parents may say contentedly, though 
imder tears : ''Behold, Lord, Thou has called Thy 
child, and in Thy hands, graven through by cruel nails 
on the cross, we know it to be safe. We forbid it not ! 
but gladly let it go to Thee, it is in God's kingdom. 
All our desire is towards Thee, therefore, we entreat 
Thee, sufifer us not for any pains of death to fall from 
Thee, for Thine is the power and the glory, O Lord. 
Amen. 



XLIX. 
ADDRESS. 

(Funeral address at the death of a man who died 

suddenly.) 

He shall enter into peace : they shall rest in their beds, 
each one walking- in his uprig-htness. Isa. 57:2. 

Who knows how near my end may be ! 
Time speeds away and death comes on; 
How swiftly! ah! how suddenly, 
May death be here and life be gone ! 
My God, for Jesus' sake I pray 
Thy peace may bless my dying day ! 

Hymn No. 386, v. i. 
Yea, who knows how near my end may be ! Do 
we not all feel the truth of this old hymn and the full 
seriousness and force of the warning contained in it. 



306 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

as we are now to accompany a brother to his last rest- 
ing place, who was with us sound, bright and strong 
as any, doing his work and pursuing his business but 
a few days ago? Swiftly, suddenly did death end his 
life. He was cut down in the middle of his years. 
Swiftly and suddenly it can come to any one of us 
as well; are you sure of having a blessed end? ''My 
God, for Jesus' sake I pray Thy peace may bless my 
dying da}^'' Truly, we all need to pray thus often, 
daily. The blood of Jesus Christ alone can insure to 
us a blessed end and make us partakers of joys which 
earth does not know. Only that person's end will be 
a death and departure in peace, whose sins were 
washed away here on earth by the blood of the Lamb; 
only he can die easy, who by faith has laid hold of the 
merits of Jesus Christ and by faith alone is justified 
before his God. Thanks be to God that we dare say 
so of our deceased brother. As far as human eyes 
could see he was prepared for death, and though it 
came suddenly, swiftly, it could not take him un- 
awares, he had learned to pray : ''My God, for Jesus' 
sake I pray. Thy peace may bless my dying day." 
Faith and trust in God was a living thing in him, and 
the Word of his God was his daily joy, comfort, food 
and preparation. Therefore we certainly are justified 
in applying to him the Word of God as found in Isa. 
57 :2 : ''He shall enter into peace ; they shall rest in 
their beds, each one walking in His uprightness.'* 

"Each one walking in His uprightness,'" shall enter 
into peace and rest in their beds. Who are they? 
Who are the men of godliness? Who do walk in such 



Address. 307 

uprightness as is demanded by God? Surely, there is 
none righteous, holy, no not one, says the Scripture. 
God, however, demands : "Ye shall be holy, for I the 
Lord your God am holy.'' This He demands of us 
who are by nature sinners and children of wrath, who 
are sinners by our own choice and volition as v;ell. 
We who are dead in trespasses and sins, should walk 
in newness of life, should turn and live. That is the 
will of God, even our sanctification. How is it possi- 
ble that we be holy in all our doings, sayings and 
thoughts, in the likenesses of Him who made us? We 
cannot comply with His request nor obey His com- 
mands by our own strength and power, and yet it can 
be done, in His power, for it is God who turns us. He 
it is who raises us from a life of sin to a life of righte- 
ousness. He it is who alone by His power and Spirit 
through His Word and Sacraments works in us re- 
pentance, faith, true sorrow, and true conversion to 
our God; and He again it is who alone gives us 
strength to grasp the merits of Him who died for the 
ungodly, to cling to Christ Jesus our Redeemer and 
Mediator, who has been made unto us of God, wisdom 
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 
(i Cor. 1 :30.) Only such as have this Savior as their 
only hope and trust in hfe and death, who believe in 
Him that justifieth the ungodly, they that work not for 
pay, but in childlike trust and obedience, are just, up- 
right, and do fulfill God's holy will. Again, I say, 
thanks be to God that we can say, our deceased broth- 
er did know Jesus Christ as his highest joy, received 
Him by faith and found in Him rest, peace, and hap- 



308 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

piness. He did therefore also love the habitation of 
God's house and was always found where God's honor 
dwelleth. Gladly did he hear and learn the Word of 
God. It was to him a pleasure and relief from worldly 
work to behold the beauty of the Lord and enquire in 
His temple. (Ps. 2^ 46). The testimonies of the Lord 
were a joy unto his heart in church and without. The 
Holy Sacrament was unto him a blessed eating and 
drinking, oft desired for comfort, strength, and conso- 
lation. The Scriptures praise as blessed such persons 
who hear the Word of God and keep it. He did hear 
it, keep it, and proved it by his walk in holiness and 
righteousness before God. He walked in uprightness 
as our text says. But he was the last person to claim 
it for himself, he did recognize this truth that he was 
only a poor sinner, a real sinner, but a real poor sinner, 
who could only live by grace, saying with St. Paul : 
''God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of 
our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified 
unto me, and I unto the world.'' So he would glory 
only in his weakness, that the grace of God might the 
more abound, (i Cor. 11 130; 12:5, 9.) Therefore you, 
my Christian friends, who mourn the death of your 
father whom you loved dearly, do not show that love 
after the manner of heal hen who have no hope, but by 
following your father's faith and trust, imitate his sim- 
ple devotion and reliance on God and His Word, fol- 
low him also in such a regular and continuous use of 
the stated means of grace. Such a remembrance will 
be more suited to his memory than ostentatious wail- 
ing and tearful despair over his loss. Yea, let all of us 



Address. 309 

promise anew at the grave of this righteous man, that 
Christ shall be our one and all, our highest joy, our 
dearest treasure. Let us receive Christ as the better 
enduring part, by a childlike trust, and find in Him 
that peace and contentment which the world cannot 
give. Thus will we also walk in uprightness, and the 
last words of our text will apply to us as well as to him : 
"He shall enter into peace/' Peace we have here be- 
low in and through Christ Jesus, but that does not 
mean that we have entered into peace. While we are 
on earth, there will be fear and unrest on account of 
sin ; perfect peace will not be found in the world and in 
us. Yonder in the city bright and fair, in heavenly 
glory, with Christ, will we enter into perfect peace, nev- 
er to be disturbed by any disagreeable discord. Sweet, 
abiding peace, no pain ! How unspeakably happy 
must they all be who have reached it ! Many a pious 
soul anxiously, eagerly is waiting, yearning to be re- 
moved from this world of worry and woe, from this 
vale of tears. He that vv^alketh in uprightness shall en- 
ter into peace, everlasting, divine, heavenly peace. (Isa. 
32:17, 18.) . . . ''They shall rest in their beds." 
The grave is not a chamber of horrors for them, it is 
a sleeping chamber, a bed-room. None fears it or 
avoids it, but welcomes it after a day's hard labor. So 
they rest, it is not death, it is simply resting. Their 
life and consciousness is not gone forever. They are 
resting in their beds and shall hear His voice and come 
forth, when the dawn of eternity breaks, when Jesus 
shall summon them to that new, unending life in the 
incorruptible, unfading immortal body of glory, to en- 



310 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

ter into proud palaces of peace and habitations of rest. 
It is a rest far different from that which they have in 
their beds, for it is the rest prepared for God's saints. 
Old things will then have passed away, and all things 
are new, all misery, woe, pain and crying is ended : joy 
shall be upon their heads forever, fulness of joy in the 
presence of God, world without end. Yea, "Blessed 
are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. 
Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their 
labors and their works do follow them.'' Amen. 



ADDRESS. 

(Address at the funeral of two girls, who were killed 
in an excitement caused by the cry of '''fire'' at 
school, which proved to be a false alarm.) 

O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. Jer. 
22:29. 

If it be true that by the death of our brethren and 
beloved ones God speaks to the living, then the ser- 
mon He preaches to-day is especially powerful; it is 
so overwhelming, strong, and appalling an occasion to 
all our feelings and senses, that it must be a deaf ear 
indeed and a heart of stone not to be touched, not to 
hear and understand God's word, spoken to the house 
of Judah by His prophet, Jeremiah, chapter 22, verse 
29. God speaks to the families, so suddenly and sadly 
bereaved, to every individual who hears it, to our en- 
tire church and community. Two coffins are before us, 
they inclose all that remains of two young girls who 



Address. 311 

gave rise to high hopes. Not by a long, tedious, pain- 
ful, weary, and wasting disease, were they taken off, 
but by an accident, hardly to be explained, have they 
been cut down, in the bloom of youth, out of school 
are they carried away by the King of Terrors, Death. 
What has happened most of you know far better than 
I can tell. Nor have I any call ta speak of it. I am 
here to speak on the part of our God, and therefore I 
call to you all : ''O earth ! Church ! School ! and P'^ami- 
lies ! hear the Word of the Lord. Know ye that the 
Almighty hath wrought a sign in our midst.'' By it 
He would call us to repentance and true conversion. 
''For if the wicked turn not He hath bent His bow, 
and made it ready ; He hath also prepared the instru- 
ments of death, and ordained His arrows to destroy.'' 
Sin and punishment, penalty and misfortune or calam- 
ities, conversion and grace are all closely connected. 
Therefore it will be well with him, who considers his 
evil ways before punishment comes, so as to be pre- 
pared for a visitation. Wise is the man who considers 
the clouds, while the sun is brightly shining. There- 
fore, my friends, let us inquire after God and His word, 
while it is day for : 

As the tree falls, so it must lie, 
As the man lives, so will he die ; 
As the man dies, such must he be. 
All through the days of eternity. 

O ye Christians, hear ye the word of the Lord ! 
Many a funeral procession passes through our streets ; 
men, women, and children, the old and young, the rich 
and the poor die ; and distressing cases are brought to 



312 Por ExtraOrdiliat^y Occasions. 

our attention more or less vividly quite often, but the 
majority of people pay no attention whatever to them. 
But these present deaths speak so loud and forcibly of 
death, eternity, and judgment, that all must hear and 
stand stunned. But it will serve no purpose to speak 
of the sad accident, for if we are to derive good from 
the evil, blessing from the visitation, each one must 
smite his breast, remember his sins, confess them to 
his God, and seek pardon and peace through Jesus 
Christ our Savior. This is especially the duty of such 
parents whose children escaped ! Remember God's 
gracious, undeserved protection thankfully. He has 
given you a sign which has a definite meaning to you : 
Hear the Word of the Lord : Bring up your children in 
the nurture and admonition of the Lord. See to it 
that this be your first and foremost aim to teach them 
the way unto salvation. Have them first seek the king- 
dom of God and his righteousness, and make them rich 
in wisdom unto salvation. Have them study and learn, 
first and above all other things, the Word of their God 
and the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. Do not despise 
the Bible Histories and the Catechism. But yourselves 
must be an example unto them, a beacon light on their 
way, by showing them how to use God's holy Word 
and the blessed Sacraments, lead them continually to 
the Savior who received them by Baptism as His chil- 
dren, pray not only for them but with them, earnestly, 
daily, committing their bodies and souls to the Friend 
of children ; intercede for them against the wiles of the 
devil, the world and the temptations of their own flesh 
and blood. Watch over them carefully so that, if He 



Address. 313 

demand them back, you may say: ''Lord, behold all 
that Thou gavest us : we have lost none of them." 

And what shall I say to you, the companions, 
friends, school and classmates, w^ho were in the same 
danger? You were witnesses of the suddenness of 
death, saw how quickly man's life may be cut short. 
Hear, O children, the word of the Lord : ''Do not seek 
after the things of this world and life, do not set your- 
hearts upon the vanities and pleasures of the times ; be 
not filled with the lust of the flesh and eyes, but be ye 
filled with the Spirit, seek those things which are 
above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 
Set your affection on things above CCol. 3 :i, 2), things 
which death cannot take away, but which will make 
death sweet unto you. Strive after strong faith in 
Christ your Savior, who delivered you from death and 
damnation. And if the spirit of evil, disobedience, tar- 
diness, uncleanness, and other sins should come upon 
you, then remember this day at school, when God came 
in a cloud of smoke and warned you, when the Lord 
your God went out unto you and gave you a proof of 
his power to save, telHng you : ''Be mindful of the 
Lord your God all your days and let not thy will be set 
to sin or to transgress His commandments." (Tobit 

4:5.) 

What shall I say to you, my dear friends, whom God 
has so bereaved? How speak to the hearts of fathers 
and mothers, who now stand as trees bared of a 
healthy limb by a stroke of lightning? What shall I 
say to brothers and sisters, who are now assembled to 
bury their companions and playmates? Hear ve the 



314 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

word of the Lord ! Sympathy is soothing in pain, we 
know. You certainly have the warmest and widest 
heartfelt sympathy of the entire city and congregation. 
But that alone will not satisfy, it will not suffice to give 
you consolation. There is better sympathy than that 
of men ! Hard indeed, is the blow, heavy the stroke, 
and bitter the pain. But in spite of this God has only 
•thoughts of peace for you. He is trying your faith 
and obedience by making you drink the cup of sor- 
rows. As children drink that which your Father sends 
you patiently, saying : (Matth. 26 :39) O my Father 

And if your quaking heart and quivering lips still 
stammer: ''Oh, but so young, so suddenly, so terri- 
bly !'' then remember that nothing can come to pass 
except by God's permission, nothing but the will of 
our heavenly Father can be done to us, who are his 
children by faith. Yea, more than that : He meant it 
unto good for them. True, in but a few weeks they 
were to renew their Baptismal vow and promise to be 
true to their Savior unto death, they and you lived in 
joyful hope and expectation of that day, when, behold ! 
our faithful and merciful God anticipated it; He pre- 
vented the danger and risk of breaking their promises. 
He came a little sooner and took them to himself in 
heaven. Think of this also that thereby they are spared 
so many and manifold temptations, dangers, and evils, 
which in our days are lurking for young girls. God 
has also spared them many worries and heart-aches, so 
much of care, a world of trouble and work, and has 
given them the inheritance of the saints in light. He 
has placed them into the hands of their Redeemer, out 



Unto the Lord. 315 

of which no man shall pluck them. And if you re- 
member these things, ought you not to say with Job : 
"The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away; blessed 
be the name of the Lord?" We know, and this is our 
consolation, that they were children who knew and 
loved their Savior, who knew and remembered their 
own sins, who also knew how to be rid of them and ob- 
tain forgiveness, and by faith had it. We are sure of 
their happy lot for the sake of Him whom they knew, 
in whom they believed. Therefore, I say again : Wipe 
your tears ; for the sake of Jesus Christ are your chil- 
dren saved, and if this sudden and sad separation seem 
too sorrowful to bear, hear the word of the Lord: 
''Weep not! for they are not dead, but sleep." As 
your voice has often roused them from their sweet and 
peaceful slumber, so their Savior's voice will raise 
them at the last day. They shall awake and see the 
Sun of Life. We grieve not as they which have no 
hope. They did, and we do believe in the resurrection 
of the body and the life everlasting, through our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Amen. 



LI. 

COME AND LET US RETURN UNTO THE 

LORD. 

Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, 
and he will heal us ; he hath smitten, and he will bind us 
up. Hosea 6: 1. 

'Though in the midst of life we be 
Snares of death surround us." 



316 Por Extraordinary Occasions. 

The solemn truth contained in these words we see 
verified at the present moment. She who but yester- 
day was hale and hearty, lies before us to-day in yon- 
der coffin cold and stiff and dead. And her unexpected 
death has caused profound sorrow, pain and grief. For 
twenty-three years she was the faithful helpmeet of 
her husband, sharing with him the joys and sorrows 
of life and helping him bear the burdens and cares of 
this present world. Her children she brought up in 
the nurture and admonition of the Lord, setting them 
a good and Christian example in word and deed. For 
her Savior and His kingdom she had a warm heart, 
taking an active interest in His church and its work. 
For all those who came in contact with her she had 
a kind and friendly w^ord, so that she was beloved by 
all who knew her. And she, who was of such a sweet 
disposition, so gentle in her behavior, so attached to 
her family, and so devoted to her Savior and his 
church : she is no longer with us here on earth. Her 
spirit has flown hence, and her mortal remains are 
about to be consigned to the grave. No wonder that 
friends and relatives are sad and downcast. No won- 
der that hearts are bleeding and tears flowing freely. 
No wonder that such a large number of people are 
gathered together here to show the love and esteem in 
which they held her. Yea, verily, her death is a blow, 
not only to the family, not only to the immediate 
friends and relatives, but to our whole congregation. 
We all will miss her, we all are grieved over her de- 
parture. And now to whom shall we look, and to 
whom shall we go, for help in this hour of affliction? 



Unto the Lord. 31t 

Where can, where shall we find comfort in this sore 
distress? Yea, who can, who will heal our broken 
hearts and bind up our bleeding wounds? The proph- 
et Hosea tells us to whom we should go, for he 
writes in the first verse of the sixth chapter of his 
book: 

''Come and let us return unto the Lord : for He hath 
torn, and He will heal us ; He hath smitten, and He 
will bind us up." 

These words contain : 

i) A sweet comfort. 

2) A solemn lesson. 

1. 

''Come, and let us return unto the Lord : for He hath 
torn, and He will heal us ; He hath smitten, and He 
will bind us up." These words tell us who it is that 
has called our sister hence, who it is that has sent us 
this sorrow. It is the Lord, the sovereign Ruler of 
our lives; He, who is almighty and all-wise and all- 
good and all-merciful; He, who is the Author and 
Fountain of all life, the Creator and Preserver of all 
creatures. And has not He, who has given life, the 
right to take it again? and is not this a sweet com- 
fort to know that the Lord has done this? that the 
issues from death belong unto Him? See, it is that 
Lord of whom Job says: "The Lord gave, and the 
Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the 
Lord." It is that Lord of whom Hannah said : "The 
Lord killeth and maketh alive ; He bringeth down to 
the grave and bringeth up." It is that Lord of whom 



318 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

Sirach says : 'Trosperity and adversity, life and death, 
poverty and riches come of the Lord;" that Lord 
of whom the Psalmist says : ''Commit thy way unto 
the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to 
pass ;'' that Lord who said to Peter : ''What I do, thou 
knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter;*' 
that Lord of whom Paul said: "O death, where is 
thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? But thanks 
be to God which giveth us the victory through our 
Lord Jesus Christ." See, that Lord has torn us, that 
Lord has smitten us, and is it not a sweet comfort 
to know that it is He, the all-wise and all-good, who * 
has done this? that it proceeds from Him and not 
from Satan or some dark power of the deep? and 
should we not therefore humble ourselves under the 
mighty hand of God and bow in meek submission to 
His will, saying : 

''Lord, as Thou wilt, deal Thou with me, 

No other wish I cherish ; 

In life and death I cling to Thee; 

O Lord, let me not perish. 

Let but Thy grace ne'er from me part, 

Else as Thou wilt ; grant patient heart. 

Thy will the best is ever"? 

Yea, it is the Lord who has torn us, the Lord who 
has smitten us. And how does the Lord smite? how 
does He tear? The wicked, it is true, God smites in 
His anger and wrath. They refuse to accept His 
Son, they refuse to believe His Word, they refuse to 
do His will, and He smites them — smites them in His 
anger, as a punishment for their evil deeds— smites 



Unto the Lord. 319 

and tears them as a last resort to bring them to repent- 
ance, saying to them : *'Ye shall know that I am the 
Lord that smiteth. Consider this, ye that forget God, 
lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver/' 
But His own dear children. His beloved Christians, 
God smites in love and not in anger, for 'Svhom the 
Lord loveth He chasteneth/' It is the rod of correc- 
tion, that rod of fatherly chastisement which He ap- 
plies to them, for ''the Lord will not cast off forever, 
but though He cause grief, yet will He have compas- 
sion according to the multitude of His mercies. For 
He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children 
of men." He Himself says : "For a small moment 
have I forsaken thee ; but with great mercies will I 
gather thee. In a little wrath I hid m.y face from thee 
for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I 
have mercy on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer." 
And is not this a sweet comfort to know that God does 
not smite in His wrath, that He does not rebuke us 
in His anger, that He does not chasten us in His hot 
displeasure. Is it not a sweet comfort to know that this 
is a stroke of God's love? Hence 

"Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, 
But trust Him for His grace. 
Behind a frowning Providence 
He hides a smiling face." 

Remember that He says : "My thoughts are not 
your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith 
the Lord, for as the heavens are higher^ than the earth, 
so are my ways higher than your ways, and my 
thoughts than your thoughts," 



320 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

But even more. Our text tells us that He who 
hath torn us will heal us, and He who hath smitten 
us will bind us up. What precious words ! God will 
heal our wounds. Can we find a better physician? 
No, never. He, and He alone, can heal us, and He 
will heal us, for He gives us His word for it. And 
the oil and wine that He pours into our wounds, is 
His Gospel. That tells us : ^^AU things work together 
for good to them that love God." That tells us : *'The 
righteous is taken away from the evil to come." That 
tells us that Jesus is the resurrection and the life ; He 
that believeth in Him, though he were dead, yet shall 
he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Him, 
shall never die. That tells us that where Jesus is, 
there shall also His servant be. Yes, that tells us that 
the lines are fallen in pleasant place to them who sleep 
in Jesus. 

Ah, the Gospel, the Word of our God, that is the 
rod and staff which comforts us. It comforted the 
departed, and should it not comfort us? It told her: 
"Fear not, for I am with thee; yea, I will help thee; 
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my 
righteousness." It told her : "God so loved the world 
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting 
life." It told her: 'The Lord is thy keeper; the 
Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The Lord 
shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve 
thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and 
thy coming in from this time forth, and even forever- 
more." Yea, it told her in her last conscious moments : 



' ' Unto the Lord. 321 

*The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He 
maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth 
me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. 
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow 
of death, I will fear no evil : for Thou art with me." 
And should not this same word, which comforted her 
and which comes to us with the same power and the 
same consolation, comfort also us? Surely, for does it 
not tell us that we too have a Savior, who is mighty to 
save? does it not tell us that also our sins are pardoned 
for Christ's sake, and that we, too, have a kind and 
loving and merciful Father in heaven? does it not 
also tell us that ''the sufferings of this present time 
are not worthy to be compared with the glory which 
shall be revealed in us?'' that 'Ve must through much 
tribulation enter into the kingdom of God?'" that 
where there is no cross, there can be no crown? and 
does it not thus heal our hearts and binds up our 
wounds? Therefore ''come and let us return unto the 
Lord, for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He 
hath smitten, and He will bind us up." These are 
precious words and full of sweet comfort. But they 
also contain a solemn lesson. 

n. 

The lesson which God teaches us is that life and 
death rest in His hand, that when He says : "Return, 
ye children of men," we must return, whether willing 
or not willing, whether ready or not ready. There- 
fore happy they who are prepared ! The dear de- 
parted, as far as man can judge, was prepared. Let 
me hold her up to you as an example. She was known 



322 For Extraordinary Occasions. 

as a quiet and faithful Christian, who knew her Lord 
and Savior Jesus Christ. Regularly did she wend her 
way to this house of God to hear the word of salva- 
tion. Frequently did she partake of the body and 
blood of her Savior in the Holy Communion. Zeal- 
ously did she work for the church, being an active 
member of our Ladies' Aid Society. Eagerly did she 
listen to the Word of God that was read to her on her 
sick bed. Patiently did she bear her illness and oh! 
how cheerfully did she submit to the Lord's will. 
Verily, all this reflected the faith that was within her. 
Oh, happy they, who, as she, are prepared to re- 
turn unto the Lord. Are you prepared, my friend? 
Her unexpected death teaches you that ere long you, 
too, may be laid to rest in God's acre, for ''it is ap- 
pointed unto men once to die, but after this the judg- 
ment.'' ''Watch, therefore, for you know not what 
hour your Lord doth come.'' "Be ye therefore ready 
also, for the Son of man cometh at an hour when you 
think not." Yea, 

*'Watch ! 'tis your Lord's command. 
And while we speak. He's near. 
Mark the first signal of His hand 
And ready all appear. 
*'Oh, happy servant he 
In such a posture found ! 
He shall his Lord with rapture see 
And be with honor crowned !" 

And how can you prepare for that awful moment 
of death? "By sincere repentance and true faith. For 
if you ask: "What must I do to be saved?" the an^ 



Unto the Lord. 323 

swer is: ''Repent and believe the Gospel/' or: ''Be- 
lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved/' 
And would you know whether your faith is the true 
and saving- faith, look at your life. Is it like unto that 
of the departed? Do you love your Savior, do you 
love His word, do you love His church? Can you 
say with the poet : 

"My hope is built on nothing less 
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness. 
I dare not trust the sweetest frame 
But wholly lean on Jesus' name. 
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand, 
All other ground is sinking sand"? 

Do you pray to God : 

''Order my footsteps by Thy Word 
And make my heart sincere. 
Let sin have no dominion. Lord, 
But keep my conscience clear"? 

For this is the way to prepare for the world to 
come : by a true faith and a godly life, doing the work 
which God has given us to do, while it is day, before 
the night cometh when no man can work. 

May, then, the departure of our beloved sister, be 
another cord drawing us heavenward and fixing our 
hearts above where Christ is at the right hand of God. 
May we remember that our loss is her gain, and that 
therefore we should not sorrow even as others which 
have no hope. For if we beheve that Jesus died and 
rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus 
will God bring with him, and so shall they ever be 



324 For Extraordinary Oooa:?ions. 

with the Lord. \Mierofore comfort oiio another with 
these words." 

And vou. my trieiuis. who may now have vowed 
to the Lord to follow the example of the departed, to 
be more steadfast in faith, more fervent in love, more 
patient in tribtilation. more instant in praver. more 
zealons in the work of the Lord — to yon I sav : 

"Then eon.ie before His presence now 
And banish fear and sadness. 
To yonr Redeemer pay > onr vow 
And sin£^' witli joy and gladness : 
Thongli great distress my soul befell. 
The Lord, mv God, did all things well. 
To God all praise and glory." Anien. 



BURIAL SERVICE. 



I. AT THE HOUSE. 

Wherever it is convenient, a hymn is sung, after which 
the pastor may say: 

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost. Amen. 

Or: 

To our God, who alone hath immortality, be honor 
and power forever and ever. Amen. 

Dear brethren and sisters in the Lord : 

Since God Almighty has simimoned our beloved 
brother (sister) from this life of sorrows and, as we 
have reason to hope because of his (her) Christian 
faith, has advanced him (her) to his (her) everlastini^ 
rest, and since this dispensation of our Father moves 
us to sadness, let us in order that we may practice 
Christian moderation in our grief, hear the comfort- 
ing words of (St. Paul) who writes thus : 

(IN ORDINARY CASES.) 

I Thess. 4:13-18. 

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, 
concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, 
even as others which have no hope. For if we believe 
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also 
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For 



326 Burial Service. 

this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that 
we which are aHve and remain unto the coming of 
the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For 
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a 
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the 
trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first : 
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught 
up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord 
in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 
Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 

Or: 
Psalm 90. 
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all gen- 
erations. Before the mountains were brought forth, 
or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, 
even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 
Thou turnest man to destruction ; and sayest, Return, 
ye children of men. For a thousand years in thy 
sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a 
watch in the night. Thou carriest them away as with 
a flood ; they are as a sleep : in the morning they are 
like grass which groweth up. In the morning it 
flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut 
down, and withereth. For we are consumed by thine 
anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled. Thou hast 
set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the 
light of thy countenance. For all our days are passed 
away in thy wrath : we spend our years as a tale that is 
told. The days of our years are threescore years and 
ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore 
years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it 



Burial Service. 327 

IS soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the 
power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so 
is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days, that 
we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Return, O 
Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy 
servants. O satisfy us early with thy mercy ; that we 
may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad 
according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, 
and the years wherein we have seen evil. Let thy 
work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto 
their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our 
God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our 
hands upon us ; yea, the work of our hands establish 
thou it. 

(AT BURIAL OF ADULTS.) 
John 1 1 :20-27. 

Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was 
coming, went and met him : bvit Mary sat still in the 
house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou 
hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I 
know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of 
God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her. Thy 
brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I 
know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the 
last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, 
and the life : he that believeth in me, though he were 
dead, yet shall he live : And whosoever liveth and 
believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 
She saith unto him. Yea, Lord : I believe that thou art 
the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into 
the world. 



328 Burial Service. 

(AT BURIAL OF YOUNG MAN OR BOY*) 
Luke 7:11-15. 
And it came to pass the day after, that he went into 
a city called Nain ; and man}^ of his disciples went with 
him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to 
the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man car- 
ried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a 
widow : and much people of the city was with her. 
And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on 
her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and 
touched the bier : and they that bare him stood still. 
And he said, Young man, I say unto thee. Arise. And 
he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he 
delivered him to his mother. 

(AT BURIAL OF YOUNG LADY OR GIRLO 
Matt. 9:18, 19, 23-25. 
While he spake these things unto them, behold, 
there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, say- 
ing. My daughter is even now dead : but come and 
lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus 
arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples. And 
when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the 
minstrels and the people making a noise. He said un- 
to them. Give place, for the maid is not dead, but sleep - 
eth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the 
people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the 
hand, and the maid arose. 

(AT BURIAL OF CHILDO 

Job 14:1-5. 
Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and 
full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is 



Burial Service. -329 

cut down : he tleeth also as a shadow, and continueth 
not. And dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, 
and bringest me into judgment with thee? Who can 
bring a clean thing out of an imclean? not one. See- 
ing his days are determined, the number of his months 
are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he 
cannot pass. 

Or: 

Psalm 103 : 1 5- 1 9. 
As for man, his days are as grass : as a flower of the 
field, so he flourisheth. P^or the wind passeth over it, 
and it is gone ; and the place thereof shall know it no 
more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting 
to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righte- 
ousness unto children's children. To such as keep his 
covenant, and to those that remember his command- 
ments to do them. The Lord hath prepared his throne 
in the heavens ; and his kingdom ruleth over all. 

[N. B. If the funeral oration is delivered at the house, 
either the above should be omitted, or followed by a short 
hymn, after which should come the oration.] 

Let us pray* 
(Prayer ex corde, or one of the following.) 

(AT BURIAL OF ADULTS.) 

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank Thee because Thou 
hast taken our brother (sister) out of sorrow into ever- 
lasting rest. Dear Redeemer, we say with Job : 'The 
Lord gave ; the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the 
name of the Lord;'' and with the people in the Gos- 
pel : ''He hath done all things well." Help us, dear 
Lord, that we may be comforted and assured 



330 Burial Service. 

that we have not lost our brother (sister), but 
have only sent him (her) ahead to heaven, whither we 
desire to go ourselves. Stablish in us the faith that 
this body, which lies before us in the helplessness of 
death, shall on the last day be raised up with power 
and great glory, and that Ave shall meet each other 
with Thee in the life everlasting. Grant us all, we 
pray Thee, Thy Holy Spirit Who shall put us in mind 
how soon we m.ay have to depart, to the end that we 
may constantly hold ourselves in readiness by repent- 
ance and true faith, to follow Thee rejoicingly, when- 
ever Thou shalt summon us out of this vale of tears 
into Thy heavenly kingdom, O Thou, Who with tlie 
Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest forever 
and ever. Amen. 

(AT BURIAL OF A CHILD.) 

Lord Almighty, our heavenly Father, Who art a 
Father of all comfort and biddest us to mourn with 
them that mourn, we beseech Thy comforting grace 
for our afflicted brother and sister, who are now to 
bear their dear child to its grave. Let them drink con- 
solation out of the cup of salvation, bestow upon them 
the Spirit of Thy grace, and strengthen their faith, to 
the end that in trustful assurance they may abide the 
day of our final salvation together with all who be- 
lieve and are fallen asleep in Jesus; and grant them 
and us a glad reunion with their child in everlasting 
joy and glory, when all believers shall live and reign 
forever with Father, Son and Holy Ghost, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



Burial Service. 331 

Conclusion 

by singing of hymn and the following: 

They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy. He that 
goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall 
doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his 
sheaves with him. 

The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy 
coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. 
Amen. 

II. AT THE CHURCH. 

After the singing of a suitable hymn, the funeral sermon 
is delivered from the pulpit, or an oration from the altar. 
The reading of the obituary, where this is customary, may 
precede the sermon or oration, or follow after it. After 
the sermon follows a prayer. 

(AT ORDINARY OCCASIONS^ 

Almighty, everlasting, and merciful God, heavenly 
Father, Who hast created all men out of dust in Thine 
own image, we humbly beseech Thee to grant us to 
consider at this burial our hum.an misery, and to be re- 
minded of the end for which we were born into this life, 
of the frailty and perishableness of our life, and of our 
destin}^ ; to the end that with all our heart we may re- 
nounce pride, vanity, self-will, and all false confidence, 
and may sincerely repent and amend our lives. Grant 
us to grow in faith and brotherly love in order that, 
when Thou shalt call us from this earthly life, we may 
be found to be faithful servants of Thee and may be 
received into eternal glory [with our departed brother 
(sister)] ; through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be 



332 Burial Service. 

praise and honor with Thee and the Holy Ghost for- 
ever and ever. Amen. 

(AT BURIAL OF A CHILD.) 

Lord Jesus Christ, everlasting God and Savior, 
Who didst receive httle children, calling them unto 
Thee and blessing them, we are assured that Thou 
hast called also this child to Thy heavenly joy and 
hast blest him with everlasting life and salvation. Still 
the souls of his parents, brothers and sisters are 
grieved, dear Lord, and w^e mourn with them, because 
Thou hast so soon taken this child from them. Al- 
though they know that Thou intendest no harm to 
their child, in hurrying him out of this evil life, still 
they find it difficult to be still and resign themselves 
to Thy holy wall. Assist them, we pray Thee, with 
Th}^ Holy Spirit, and strengthen their faith, that they 
may honor Thy dispensation and glorify it, even 
though they do not as yet understand it. We thank 
Thee, because Thou hast received this child in holy 
baptism and hast made him Thy child, hast born him 
again to the life everlasting, and hast now given to 
him the promised inheritance, the kingdom of heaven. 
Therefore we are confident that this child is now at 
peace and rest with Thee. Help us, dear Lord, that 
we may turn and become as children, in order that we 
too may peacefully fall asleep and obtain the saints' 
everlasting rest by Thy grace and mercy. Amen. 

Then shall follow: 

Our Father who art in heaven ; hallowed be Thy 
name ; Thy kingdom come ; Thy will be done on earth, 



Burial Service. 333 

as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; 
and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who 
trespass against us ; and lead us not into temptation, 
but deHver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom., 
and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. 
Amen. 

Holy and gracious God ! 
Holy and mighty God ! 
Holy and all-merciful Savior ! 

Eternal Lord God! 
Save us now from sinking 
In the bitter pains of death. 
From the true faith's comfort 
Let us never fall away. 

Lord, have mercy ! 

Christ, have miercy ! 

Lord, have mercy ! Amen ! 

If the sermon at the church is preached after the burial, 
this service should close with collect and benediction. See 
at end of Third Part. 

in. AT THE GRAVE. 

After the coflan has been lowered, a hymn may be sung. 
Then the pastor shall say: 

I Cor. 15 : 42. 
It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorrupt 
tion : It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory : it is 
sown in weakness, it is raised in power : it is sown 
a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There 
is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. For 



334: Burial Service. 

this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this 
mortal must put on immortality. So when this cor- 
ruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mor- 
tal shall have put on immortality, then shall be 
brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is 
swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? 
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is 
sin : and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks 
be to God, which giveth us the victory through our 
Lord Jesus Christ. 

(If an address is to he delivered, it should follow at this 
place.) 

Since it has pleased Almighty God to take unto 
Himself the soul of our dear brother (sister, this dear 
child), we now commit his body to the ground. 

Earth to Earth ; 
Ashes to Ashes ; 
Dust to Dust, 

in the certain hope of the resurrection unto eternal life, 
when Christ shall change our vile body, that it may be 
fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to 
the working whereby He is able even to subdue all 
things unto Himself. 

May God the Father, Who has created this body ; 

May God the Son, Who by His blood has redeemed 
this body together with the soul ; 

May God the Holy Ghost, Who by baptism has sanc- 
tified this body to be His temple, 

Keep these remains unto the day of the resurrection 
of all flesh. Amen. 



Burial Service. 335 

The service is concluded by the singing of a hymn, col- 
lect, and benediction. 

Collects* 

I) 

Almighty God, who by the death of Thy Son hast 
destroyed sin and death, and by His holy resurrec- 
ton hast brought again innocence and everlasting 
life, in order that we be redeemed from the power 
of the devil, and also our mortal bodies be raised 
again from the dead to everlasting life, by the power 
of this resurrection to live eternally in Thy kingdom. 
Grant us that we may believe this firmly and with all 
our heart, and obtain the joyful resurrection of our 
bodies with all the blessed, through the same Thy 
Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

2) 

Almighty God, merciful Father, who on account 
of our sin sowest our corruptible and vain bodies into 
Thy great acre, we beseech Thy loving-kindness to 
keep our ashes, which have been sanctified by the 
blood of Thy Son and by Thy Holy Spirit, and to 
raise us up after Thine image unto a glorious and in- 
corruptible life, in order that we may behold Thy 
face in everlasting righteousness and may truly praise 
and glorify Thee by the victory and resurrection of 
Thine only begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, 
Who with Thee and the Holy Ghost lives and reigns 
one true God, forever and ever. Amen. 

3) 
Lord God, heavenly Father, Who hast taught us 
by Thy holy apostle Paul, that we must not immoder- 



336 Burial Service. 



iedMn tne*' 



ately grieve over our departed who have die'd^n'tEe *" 
Lord, graciously grant that together with all believers 
we may after this life obtain the joy everlasting 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. yCf^ ■"" 

4) 
(FOR SUDDEN DEATH.) 

Almighty, everlasting God, by whose wrath man 
perisheth, and is carried away as with a flood, we pray 
Thee that Thou wouldest not take us hence in our 
sins, but teach us penitently to number our days, in 
order that death may find us prepared to enter into 
eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

Benediction* 

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee! 

The Lord niake His face to shine upon thee, and 
be gracious unto thee ! 

The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and 
give thee peace, t Amen, 



^T, 



TQ^yj 



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